“I’d wake up at night with the smell of the ball park in my nose, the cool of the grass on my feet. … The thrill of the grass.”
Those were the words of Shoeless Joe Jackson as portrayed in the movie “Field of Dreams.”
As Shoeless Joe testifies, you cannot have baseball without the grass. And now, the Rocket City Trash Pandas have their grass.
Birmingham-based Hoar Construction announced this week that it had successfully completed installation of the grass for the playing surface at Toyota Field, the home of Alabama’s newest Minor League Baseball team. Crews laid down 102,000 square feet of high-grade Bermuda turf at the stadium in Madison.
The new Tifway 419 sod is considered one of the premier natural grass surfaces for athletic fields and is expected to be fully grown in time for the Rocket City Trash Pandas’ first-ever home game on April 15, 2020.
Installation for what will be a highly-stressed playing surface was a complex process.
In order to lay down the new turf, Hoar Construction had to plan and execute an intricate strategy to ensure its sustainability as a field suitable for a professional sports team.
Tifway 419 is unique since it needs to be 12- to 18-months old before harvest, compared to the relatively short three- to four-month growth cycle necessary for other types of sod. The sod was originally grown for the Tennessee Titans’ practice facility in Nashville but became available after the Titans opted for an alternative sod better suited for the wear and tear of pro football.
Another challenge was finding a compatible soil.
Crews ultimately decided to use a sand that was dredged in Ohio and barged down the Mississippi River to the Tennessee River port in nearby Decatur, Alabama. From there, crews trucked more than 7,000 tons of sand to the construction site, with every 500-ton segment going through required testing to ensure high-grade quality.
“The stringent requirements that were presented to the construction partners required everyone to be nimble and innovative,” said Michael Raymond, assistant project manager at Hoar Construction, in a release from the company. “The process we used for the sand is very comparable to medical testing. We conducted a ‘physical’ every 500 tons, and then we did ‘bloodwork’ every 1,500 tons. There was simply no room for error, and that commitment to excellence ensured a final product that we believe is one of the best playing surfaces anywhere in the minor or major leagues.”
The team visited the farm to harvest 2.5 acres, selecting it patch by patch to ensure the highest quality. Once the sod was harvested, it had to be installed within 24 hours, which required additional logistical planning for transportation crews making the four-hour trek from West Tennessee to Alabama. Maintaining a high standard was of particular concern since rain had been scarce for the two months previous to selection, and then it rained for seven consecutive days before the turf was harvested.
“The absolute most visible and memorable feature for fans in any ballpark is the field,” said Ralph Nelson, CEO of the Rocket City Trash Pandas. “When we observed the meticulous work of the Hoar team and the quality of the final product, we knew our fans would be in awe of the field’s appearance. I was also able to tell our Major League affiliate with great confidence that their players would be playing on one of the finest playing surfaces in the country.”
The new 82,328-square-foot, $40 million ballpark is the anchor facility for the Town Madison mixed-use development, a 563-acre modern and walkable urban community that provides a variety of dynamic experiences for living, shopping, dining, working and entertainment. Toyota Field will have a capacity of approximately 7,500 fans, including a combination of fixed seating, premium suites, a stadium club, party decks, picnic areas and standing room only areas. The stadium will serve as the new home for the Rocket City Trash Pandas, the Double-A affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels that is owned by BallCorps, LLC.
Tim Howe is an owner of Yellowhammer Multimedia
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