It isn’t as easy as it looks.
That’s what Bob Guess, Weatherford ISD Board of Trustees Vice President, found out about laying the new turf at Kangaroo Stadium.
"The whole process is fascinating," he said. "When you look at it, it’s all even, like you dug up all the dirt and just put the turf on top but it’s not that simple."
The stadium was one of only a few left that maintained natural grass, which made it difficult when heavy rains would fall.
Guess said when he was at the field, he asked how much rain would have to fall before water would be standing on the field.
"Thirty-six inches an hour," Guess said he was told. "That’s really phenomenal."
The turf replacement began in March and one of the things Guess said has been impressive is the amount of work that has been in a relatively short amount of time.
"There’s a tremendous number of man hours just to put those rubber pellets down," he said. "The construction foreman down there said it was a 75-hour process just to drop those pellets on the field."
Adding to that is that weather has been relatively dry, allowing construction crews maximum days of work.
"You hate to say we’ve been blessed with great weather but from a construction standpoint, we have," he said. "From a rainfall standpoint, it [stinks]."
Guess said, for him, switching to turf was a "no-brainer."
"When you consider how much people pay to water their lawn and you consider what we were paying in water bills alone — we know it’s just going to get worse — trying to keep grass in the stadium alive, to me it’s a no-brainer to go to turf."
Plus, he said, it’s a matter of pride.
"I know there were adults, parents upset with the condition of the [field]," he said. "I think everybody is going to be pleased with the results."
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