The Fargodome has finally got the ball rolling on getting rid of our crappy turf and some other improvements are also on their way....
The Fargodome is doing the hurry-up offense on new artificial turf.
A project that was scheduled for replacement in 2015 as part of its master plan has an outside shot of being installed by next fall with a more realistic goal of 2012, said Fargo City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn, who represents the city on the dome finance committee.
It would be financed from the dome’s reserve fund, currently at $29 million, Piepkorn said, with NDSU kicking in a portion of the estimated $3 million replacement bill.
“Even though there is enough money in the dome fund, we would want NDSU to participate in paying for the turf,” Piepkorn said. “That’s the fair thing.”
Agreed, said NDSU athletic director Gene Taylor, who said the school may look at a potential sponsor for the turf.
That’s not all the dome has in mind for projects, Piepkorn said. He said new a lighting system is expected to be completed in the next year and plans call for building a separate restroom/hospitality facility in the tailgating section west of the dome. Tailgating has blossomed in the last several years at Bison football games.
“Maybe we’ll have a little area for a band to play,” Piepkorn said. “And another thing is power for all those big campers and busses. There are a lot of things you could do, but you have to gradually spend money. You have to continually look at things.”
With other area colleges playing at the dome, and high school teams from North Dakota and Minnesota playing numerous games each year and wearing it down, it was long overdue.
The guys I went to school with at SU told me that the Dome turf was horrible ten years ago... I never played on it, but if it's anything like the astroturf at the Metrodome in the late 90's... I would think it would be tough to get recruits to play there when other options were available. That stuff made you hurt by halftime...
North Dakota State University Bison 2011 and 2012 National Champions
will be interesting to see what sort of turf system the FargoDome gets.
One of the big concerns when UNI was shopping for turf for the UNI-Dome was the ability to take it up (and put it back down) without requiring prohibitive time/labor, since the facility is used for other events as well.
And I would guess that the FargoDome is the same way.
FargoBison wrote:It will be the same turf the St. Louis Rams have, it basically rolls as one big piece and is stored in a pit under the endzone.
field turf (with the infill pellets and whatnot), or just replacing the old-style astroturf?
I like the notion of rolling it as one big piece and storing it in a pit/basement. but if that is field turf, that has got to be one HUGE (and heavy) roll.
as i recall, the dome doesn't really have a place to store it near the field - they roll it up in strips and stash it in the hallway on the west (and presumably east) side of the service corridors. (at least that's how they did it when i was there for my graduation in 03)
North Dakota State University Bison 2011 and 2012 National Champions
TwinTownBisonFan wrote:as i recall, the dome doesn't really have a place to store it near the field - they roll it up in strips and stash it in the hallway on the west (and presumably east) side of the service corridors. (at least that's how they did it when i was there for my graduation in 03)
The Fargodome installed the Astroturf Magic Carpet sometime after that. They use compressed air to float the surface while it's rolled up into a pit in the north endzone. I was talking to the head facilities guy a few years back and he said they could convert the surface with six guys in less than 45 minutes, including the field goal posts.
FargoBison wrote:It will be the same turf the St. Louis Rams have, it basically rolls as one big piece and is stored in a pit under the endzone.
field turf (with the infill pellets and whatnot), or just replacing the old-style astroturf?
I like the notion of rolling it as one big piece and storing it in a pit/basement. but if that is field turf, that has got to be one HUGE (and heavy) roll.
I think this stuff is kind of like a hybrid between the infill turf with pellets and the old style.
Northern Michigan also uses it..
Every coach dreams of a player with an exceptional all-around game. That's the best way to think of AstroTurf PureGrass. A premium, multi-purpose, extra plush turf with a high fiber density and a thick Root Zone® that performs like a pro - outdoors and indoors. No Fill Required (NFR) technology reduces the amount of infill required, and in some cases, eliminates it altogether.
Designed for both portable and permanent use either indoors or outdoors, PureGrass looks and plays like natural grass. Providing maximum shock absorbency, PureGrass is compatible with a number of shock pads and base options. Base construction can be concrete, crushed stone, E-Layer® or asphalt.
Whatever game plan you run with, PureGrass will be ready.
JayJ79 wrote:
field turf (with the infill pellets and whatnot), or just replacing the old-style astroturf?
I like the notion of rolling it as one big piece and storing it in a pit/basement. but if that is field turf, that has got to be one HUGE (and heavy) roll.
I think this stuff is kind of like a hybrid between the infill turf with pellets and the old style.
Northern Michigan also uses it..
Every coach dreams of a player with an exceptional all-around game. That's the best way to think of AstroTurf PureGrass. A premium, multi-purpose, extra plush turf with a high fiber density and a thick Root Zone® that performs like a pro - outdoors and indoors. No Fill Required (NFR) technology reduces the amount of infill required, and in some cases, eliminates it altogether.
Designed for both portable and permanent use either indoors or outdoors, PureGrass looks and plays like natural grass. Providing maximum shock absorbency, PureGrass is compatible with a number of shock pads and base options. Base construction can be concrete, crushed stone, E-Layer® or asphalt.
Whatever game plan you run with, PureGrass will be ready.
The Rams turf looks better, I can't find a decent pic though. Northern Michigan was the first team to get this turf and that was two years ago so I'm sure they've made some upgrades.
I found a better pic, I guess the Rams have the same turf in their dome and practice field..
Last edited by FargoBison on Tue Nov 23, 2010 5:02 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Northern Michigan is a bad example. The cost of their turf install was $1.8MM and they didn't have the Magic Carpet system prior to this install, whereas the Fargodome install will be $3MM and already has a Magic Carpet system in place.
You can use different turf surfaces in the Magic Carpet system. The Edward Jones Dome (St. Louis Rams) just installed the Magic Carpet with the Gameday Grass 3D at a cost of $2.5MM. Looks much better than Northern Michigan's install and should be closer to what the Fargodome will be getting (except it will be yellow, of course).
FARGO – The proposed new artificial turf for the Fargodome is alive and kicking. The Fargo Dome Authority on Tuesday unanimously approved preliminary plans to move the project forward and indications point to a new “Pure Grass 3D” system by the fall of 2012.
There were no objections to the Fargo Dome Authority Building Committee’s report of two cost estimates for the new turf, both by Astroturf. One, called Game Day Synthetic System, has an infill product with no padding at the cost of $2.45 million. The other, called Pure Grass 3D, has a padding but no infill at a cost of $2.52 million.
Fargodome general manager Rob Sobolik said his recommendation to the Dome Authority will be to go with the Pure Grass, which also carries an option of having one year to add infill to the product.
“My preference would be to use it, and maybe we do need to add the one pound per square foot infill,” Sobolik said.
Pure Grass has a pad with 5/8-inch thickness. The advantage of not having infill product is the dome would not have to deal with the tracking of the shredded rubber in the lower level.
I think this is the third surface in the Fabulous Fargo Dome. One about every 10 yrs I guess. Thats another advantage to being inside. Turf lasts longer.
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