Tearin’ up the turf
The surface of Kelly/Shorts Stadium looks almost nothing like a football and field hockey field.
Instead, it looks more like a vacant parking lot. But all that is soon to change.
The Board of Trustees allocated $975,00 for the project March 4, and, after a month and a half of negotiations with contractors, workers began tearing up the old turf May 19.
“The removal of the turf has been completed, and the next step is the grinding down, or shaving, of the asphalt,” said Athletics Director Herb Deromedi. “We’re set to start the grinding part in one week, and phase three will be putting down the new surface.”
FieldTurf will be installed, and Deromedi said the field should be ready for use in early July.
Deromedi also said the leveling of the asphalt surface should take between three and four days.
“Experiencing the removal of the old surface was exciting,” Deromedi said. “Going down there and observing the product that we had, we were able to see the areas where it was worn significantly. That will be the last time we will see that type of surface.”
Next season will mark the first time since 1972 that CMU’s football team will play its home games on a surface other than artificial turf.
The downside to the late start, however, is that the facility will not be available when CMU hosts its annual football camps. Central will host six different football camps throughout June.
“The nice part about it is that there are plenty of other fields our campers will be able to utilize,” said football coach Brian Kelly. “The other additional fields are also well-kept to ensure our campers recieve the best experience possible.”
Kelly said not being in the stadium is not a concern to him.
“Although it would have been nice to be in the stadium, we understand the circumstances and don’t think it’s a big deal,” he said.
With almost 60 players remaining in Mount Pleasant during the off-season, Kelly said his players are excited to be play in Kelly/Shorts Stadium.
“As soon as we can get our players on the field, we want to do it,” Kelly said. “Once we have the green light to be on the surface, we are going to get a whole lot of work in on it.”
