The cheers and hollers that usually fill Spartan Stadium have been replaced by the sounds of bulldozers digging through asphalt underneath artificial turf.
Beginning next fall, the Spartans will play on a softer, more forgiving surface - natural grass grown by MSU’s turf management program.
The MSU Board of Trustees hired Haussman Construction Co. of Lansing in October to remove the artificial turf, asphalt and drainage system, replace the irrigation system and lay down new asphalt. If all goes well, the grass will be planted in mid-June.
The total cost of the project is estimated at $2 million.
MSU Trustee David Porteous said combining the work of the turf management program with the athletics department makes sense.
“MSU has the top turf management school in the country and I think it’s great for them to be involved in designing and installing the natural grass,” Porteous said.
“The athletic department and administration are to be complimented on a very successful blending of both academics and athletics.”
Assistant Athletics Director John Lewandowski said the turf has been torn up and the stadium is in an excavating phase.
“About two weeks after the last football game they started,” Lewandowski said. “The installation of the irrigation system is planned sometime in May.”
He said taking out the turf coincides with the construction of the new track facility southwest of Spartan Stadium.
Lewandowski said removing the turf affects not only the football team, but MSU’s women’s field hockey team, too. The field hockey team also calls the stadium home.
As a result, the new track will feature an artificial turf infield, which will allow the field hockey team and other university programs a place to practice and compete.
Crop and soil sciences Professor Trey Rogers is in charge of cultivating the grass for the stadium.
“Well, we’re honored to be a part of it,” Rogers said. “It’s something they’ve been asking us questions about for years.”
The seeds for the grass, which were planted on May 25, are stored at the Hancock Turfgrass Research Center.
Rogers said a lot is riding on the project since the turf management program is considered one of the nation’s finest.
“It’s a unique situation,” he said. “If the grass goes in and it’s perfect - everyone will simply say, ‘That’s the way it should be.’
“If it’s not perfect, people will raise an eyebrow.”
The estimated completion date is Aug. 1. Rogers said the cold, wet spring could cause the asphalt layer to not settle. He said the project is on track.
After the asphalt is settled, 68,000 square feet of Kentucky bluegrass will be installed in Spartan Stadium, which will take about a week, Rogers said.
“It’s a cool-season grass that has the ability to spread and repair itself,” he said. “It’s also a fine-textured grass.”
For athletes like sophomore quarterback Jeff Smoker, switching to grass won’t be that hard of a transition. He said it provides more benefits.
Smoker said the team’s offensive explosion on the natural grass at the Silicon Valley Football Classic against Fresno State, a game in which the Spartans won 44-35, was a good sign.
“Playing on grass is not much of a difference - there is a slight difference in speed, but timing is always a factor,” Smoker said.
Smoker said playing on grass also will eliminate some of the pain he’s experienced in his two years at MSU.
“I’m not going to miss when you land on that stuff,” he said.
