AGENDA #5c
MEMORANDUM
TO: Mayor and Town Council
FROM: W. Calvin Horton, Town Manager
SUBJECT: Use of Town Owned Athletic Playing Fields
DATE: September 24, 2001
This report responds to a Council member’s request to determine how we can better serve various groups requiring athletic field space.
Since the 1970s, the Town has operated approximately 10 softball/baseball fields.
In September 1999, the Town opened two youth athletic fields at Homestead Park. These were the Town’s first public athletic playing fields designed for soccer, football, lacrosse, rugby, field hockey, and other sports.
In early April 2000, the Town opened the new playing field adjacent to Scroggs Elementary School to groups wishing to lease field time. This field is a cooperative venture between the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School Board and the Town of Chapel Hill. By agreement with the school system, the Town operates the field beginning at 5:00 p.m. on school days, weekends, and all weekdays during the school’s summer break.
In May 2001, Dr. Richard J Cooper, Turfgrass Agronomist, evaluated turf damage at the Homestead Park athletic fields. Dr. Cooper reported that in his opinion “excessive play (traffic) was the main factor contributing to the failure of the Bermuda grass to survive.” (Dr Cooper’s report in its entirety is Attachment #1.) The Town spent $30,500 this summer to resod the damaged areas in the center of the fields and blend in soil amendments to the rootzone under the new sod. We believe the latter will improve the water holding capacity and stability of the newly resodded areas.
In spring 2001, a scheduled irrigation installation project allowed the Parks and Recreation Department to open the two large softball/baseball fields at Cedar Falls to soccer groups. In the spring of 2001 only Rainbow Soccer chose to lease the Cedar Falls space.
In late August the Town staff met to determine how to provide field space to local user groups during peak times while protecting the Town’s investment in fields and maintaining the turf at the Homestead Park and Scroggs fields.
DISCUSSION
The Town’s athletic/soccer fields at Homestead Park and Mary Scroggs School do not meet the current demands of various user groups such as Rainbow Soccer, the Strikers, the Triangle Futbol Club (formerly Carolina United), the YMCA, lacrosse clubs, and the Parks and Recreation Department’s flag football program. Demand for athletic/soccer fields is especially high in the fall and spring seasons, typically from mid-August through late- November and from mid-February through late-May.
Current Plans for Providing Fields: We currently make the Homestead Park and Scroggs fields available for lease from mid-April through late-November.
We continue to allow soccer play on the softball/baseball fields at Cedar Falls Park. Rainbow Soccer, the Strikers, Triangle Futbol Club, and the YMCA, leased space at Cedar Falls fields until the Homestead Park fields reopened on September 22. We believe we can schedule the Cedar Falls fields for use in 2002 to alleviate the need to use the Homestead Park fields while their turf is dormant in February, March, and early April. Unfortunately, we noted damage to the fescue turf at Cedar Falls during last year’s experimental use of the fields and we will closely monitor damage from usage this fall and next spring.
Fescue and Bermuda turf have different characteristics and areas of strength, but the key to maintaining both types is providing the grass time to rebound from the wear and tear of play.Fescue and Bermuda turf have different characteristics and areas of strength, but the key to maintaining both types is allowing the fields to rest. Fields are rested by providing a significant amount of time, usually several months, without play. This allows the grass to rebound from wear and tear. In addition, we would use the time to fertilize and aerate the fields to speed recovery. Accommodating user demand during the period between early February and mid-April appears to be the most difficult part of this issue.
Accommodating user demand during the period between early February and mid-April appears to be the most difficult part of this issue.
The Town’s softball/baseball fields have fescue turf, which is adequate to handle the type of play usually found with baseball and other related sports. Use of these fields during winter months could be allowed, but providing them a rest period in late spring or fall will be necessary so that the turf has an opportunity to rebound.
Hybrid bermuda grass was selected for the athletic/soccer fields at Homestead Park and Scroggs Elementary School because it develops the most uniform athletic field playing surface and, once established, is the most wear resistant and drought tolerant of turf varieties adapted to the North Carolina piedmont. Unlike fescue and other cool season grasses, hybrid bermuda turf does not decline in the mid-summer heat. Hybrid bermuda turf also tends to form the densest soil cover and therefore is less troubled by competition from weeds.
There are, however, two fundamental limitations to the use of hybrid bermuda turf. The first is that it goes dormant for a long period of time in the winter (on average, roughly from late November through April), and in its dormant state is more susceptible to damage due to heavy use. The second is that it does not grow from seed, and therefore turf repair is expensive because it must be done by sprigging or sodding. Despite these limitations, hybrid bermuda is the most commonly specified turf for improved athletic fields in our area.
Hybrid bermuda turf is sometimes overseeded with winter rye grass for athletic fields that are going to be heavily used during the winter months because the rye grass provides some degree of wear resistance for the bermuda. However, overseeding can delay the hybrid Bermuda turf’s spring flush of growth and increase the incidence of fungal diseases. The resulting decrease in vigor can initiate substantial deterioration of the bermuda sod especially on fields that are heavily used in May and June when the bermuda sod is breaking dormancy. After consultation with turf experts at NCSU we believe that on balance it would be preferable not to overseed the Homestead Park or Scroggs athletic fields.
We believe that the best long-term solution would be to build more fields, with a variety of turfs suitable for soccer and other field sports. Within the next few years, fields suitable for community use should become available at Smith Middle School. Additional fields may be located at Meadowmont Park and Southern Community Park. We believe these fields should be designed to be as large as possible in order to minimize turf damage due to overuse. (Goals can be shifted in a large field so that areas of highest wear can also be shifted.)
We have analyzed every one of our fields and have concluded that only the two larger fields at Cedar Falls Park can be used for sports other than softball and baseball. We believe that most of our softball fields are too small to accommodate even youth soccer practices. The Parks and Recreation Department staff will continue working with representatives from various soccer, lacrosse, and rugby organizations to ensure that all suitable Town resources are available for their usage.
ATTACHMENTS