Turf transforming Valley stadiums

PALMER — Palmer High School and Colony High School are welcoming upgrades their athletic facilities that includes new artificial field turf.

Construction has begun the football fields and running tracks at both schools, with anticipation that upgrading to artificial turf could introduce the possibility for longer seasons of use. The improvements are made possible by a local bond initiative and by state appropriations in the state budget for 2012. Construction is expected to be finished by June 29, in time for the annual All-Alaska Football Camp at Colony High School held in the middle of June.

The field turf will eliminate the cost of upkeep for a natural grass field, as well as the thousands of volunteer hours put into maintain the grass. The turf will also allow spring sports like soccer to get on the field earlier and stay on later into the fall.

“Soccer is the big one that benefits from this,” Palmer High athletic director Jeff Theide said. “Better schools are not always solely in the classroom, but ever reaching to athletics, academics and extra curriculars.”

Last week, Palmer High School sold sections of sod from its old natural grass surface at Machetanz Field, widely regarded as the best natural grass field in the state.

“People asked for a roll to plant because it meant something,” Theide said. “They played, bled, sweat all over that field and wanted a token to take home and remember it by. It’s a bittersweet situation where we’re going to gain something from it, but we’ve lost a little history.”

In addition to a new field, the improvements include replacing worn and inadequate running tracks at Valley schools. Colony’s asphalt running track was in poor shape, as well as being originally measured in yards, not meters.

Contact Tim Rockey at 352-2252 or tim.rockey@frontiersman.com. Follow @trockeynews on Twitter.