District officials began installing artificial turf on each of
the high schools’ main football fields.
By By: Jennifer Simonson
Even in the middle of a severe drought, the practice fields at
Douglas County’s high schools will stay green year-round.
District officials began installing artificial turf on each of
the high schools’ main football fields.
The fields, used mostly by soccer, football and lacrosse
players, are used for team practice, class activities and some team
games. The synthetic grass is intended to keep the fields usable
year-round.
The sod from the fields will be removed and new synthetic turf
will be installed in phases starting next year, said Bill Reimer,
chief operations officer.
Turf will be installed at the two high schools with the oldest
practice fields, Ponderosa and Highlands Ranch, and at High School
No. 7 in Highlands Ranch next year.
Turf will be installed in the remaining high schools and Shea
Stadium as the fields’ conditions and the district’s budget
warrant, Reimer said.
District officials have talked about installing turf for many
years, but the drought has deteriorated the fields and forced the
school district to limit their use, which pushed the issue to the
forefront, he said.
“Our fields are becoming harder and harder to maintain and it
has become a safety issue for the students,” Reimer said. “When the
fields get hard and compact, the number of injuries goes
up.”
Because multiple teams use practice fields nonstop, dead grass
and dirt areas are a problem year after year, said Bart Stevens,
athletics director at Douglas County High School.
The high school was the pilot for the new turf, and athletes
have been playing on it since April.
The new turf is filled with rubber chips to give it the feel of
a freshly watered field, he said.
“It is a nice product. There are no burns like there was with
the old stuff, and the leg will give the way it does on real grass
so there are less injuries,” he said.
The Douglas County Board of Education approved Dec. 17 spending
about $1.2 million to install the new turf at Ponderosa and
Highlands Ranch high schools.
District officials hope the lack of maintenance, water and
stripping cost will help offset some of that cost.
“The offset may not equal what we pay for it, but the increased
usage will make up for it,” Reimer said.