City Mulling Synthetic Turf For Field at Pompei Park

Officials are researching options to address costly and lengthy field maintenance at Louie Pompei Memorial Sports Park, plans that could lead to the installation of synthetic turf.

There are three options being researched by the Community Services Commission, with the synthetic option favored by officials, who cite it would be a major cost savings to the city over time.

The field in question is referred to as field three, the eastern-most at Pompei Park.

The synthetic turf would require minimal maintenance: no mowing, no fertilizing, no weeding and little watering. Synthetic grass would require minimal down time, allowing patrons to use the fields all-year long, said Jon Jainga, parks and community services manager.

The cost to supply just a contractor and new sod on an annual basis for field three alone is reportedly $40,000, officials said.

The cost of maintaining a synthetic field year to year run significantly lower, projected at around $1,400, officials said.

Officials calculated a 10-year life cycle cost comparison. The cost of maintaining a grass field are projected at over $983,000. Maintaining a synthetic field would cost just over $16,200 over 10 years, officials said.

The one time cost for the proposed synthetic field from the planning phase to the final product and first-year maintenance run at over $650,000, according to city documents.

Officials are researching grants to bring down the cost of construction. The city has already secured a $150,000 CalRecycle grant for a rubber crumb component to the synthetic turf, said La Shawn Butler, community services director.

A second option besides synthetic turf would have the city continue funding for new sod as is currently being done. A third option would have the city pull funding for sod, just allowing the field to be seeded. These two options would require the fields to be off limits for certain months, allowing the grass to grow to a playable state, officials said.

The current method allows the field to be used from May to November. The third option would allow the field to only be used from July to November. Requiring down time reduces playing time for area teams, including the adult soccer league, which is the only revenue-generating entity, Butler said.

Synthetic grass would provide year-round usage of the field, officials said.

The synthetic proposal would also include re-sodding and drainage improvements to field five.

All alternatives are still being researched and it is not known when the plans would be brought before the city council for consideration, Butler said.

For more information on these options, click here.