LOS ANGELES, CA, November 2, 2015 – Another “Gold Rush” appears to have made its way to the state of California – This time rooted in the greater Los Angeles area. Once again, the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks was able to captivate the community with Griffith Park’s newly completed John Ferraro Athletic Fields. Made possible through contributions from the LA84 Foundation, the Los Angeles Parks Foundation, the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, as well as other generous donors – the Ferraro Fields project is expected to serve over 170,000 youth players and save 9.5 million gallons of water on a year-round basis.
An ecstatic crowd gathered at the four-field facility for Saturday’s grand re-opening to take a first look at the new fields and hear about the coinciding water conservation efforts. Even the ribbon cutting ceremony panned out to be quite a special moment, as local youth were able to stand and celebrate alongside Olympic legends and city leaders. Not to be overshadowed in the midst of Saturday’s excitement is the entire scope of the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks’ unequivocal commitment to “provide well-maintained facilities that reflect the public’s needs and interests.” With three “Golden Series” projects now completed for the Department of Recreation and Parks in the past year (and more on the horizon), the future of turf is already booming in Los Angeles!
In 2014, AstroTurf was approached with the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks’ desire to design a rubber free system with cooler surface temperature capable of withstanding the heavy usage and lower maintenance intervals that occur with inner-city park usage. AstroTurf, the leading innovator of the synthetic turf industry, immediately put our engineers to the test. Strictly adhering to AstroTurf’s mantra of “More Fiber, Less Fill,” our research and development team struck gold while rigorously testing one potential solution.
DT 32 “Golden Series” turf (named to commemorate AstroTurf’s 50th Anniversary and after California, the birth place of the system) would soon become the densest product in the entire market. Paired with a shock pad underlayment, “Golden Series” turf eliminates the need for crumb rubber infill or other expensive infill alternatives without foregoing the advantages of traditional infill systems.
Gilbert Lindsay
When the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks’ Turf Consultant, Joe DiGeronimo, was presented with AstroTurf’s new “Golden Series” product, he was quick to see a tailored solution specific to the needs of the client. Once DiGeronimo was on board, it was not long before AstroTurf and Athletic Field Engineering (AFE Sports) were trusted to install the innovative turf system at two Gilbert Lindsay Park soccer fields.
The first installation utilized an interlocking structural pad system and infill ZeoFill – a nontoxic locally mined dolomite mineral sold in health food stores, water filtration purification systems, and hundreds of other daily applications. This unique infill material provides ballast to the turf system and holds (but does not require) water, creating an evaporative cooling effect, which keeps the turf system cooler than traditional infill. The infill also does not retain heat during hotter days, providing a cooler recreational space. Upon completion, the Gilbert Lindsay fields underwent standard FIFA protocol testing and performed remarkably. The collaborative effort between AstroTurf, AFE Sports, and City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks made our first “Golden Series” installation an overwhelming success – and LA Parks was soon ready to install more…
Van Nuys Sherman Oaks Complex
Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks War Memorial Park was the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks’ next lucky recipient of a “Golden Series” system. This time, three fields were installed during the facility upgrades. The turf looked and performed impressively, once again. As momentum for the new product line grew, LA Weekly magazine featured the Van Nuys-Sherman Oaks War Memorial Park fields in an article discussing the anticipated synthetic turf conversion of over 100 grass fields in the city of Los Angeles. The rush for “Golden Series” in Los Angeles continues with the most recent design/build of John Ferraro Soccer Fields and South Park Soccer Complex scheduled to install later this year.
Several other “Golden Series” fields have been installed since the product line’s introduction, including the varsity football/soccer field at Jesuit High School in Sacramento, CA. Our custom-fit approach to LA Parks’ situation gave rise to the next big wave of synthetic turf innovation. The “Golden Series” movement is growing in and out of Los Angeles, and is poised to change the landscape of the entire synthetic turf industry.
