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FIELD OF THE YEARExcellence Earns Northwestern University's
Ryan Field STMA College/University Football Field
of the Year Honors
by Steve and Suz Trusty
Results of the $30 million stadium renovation project, completed in 1997, were made even betterwith the field work completed in 1999.
C ommitment to excellenceearned the STMA 2000College/University Football
Field of the Year honors for Ryan Fieldof Northwestern University. TheUniversity, located in Evanston, IL,completed a $30-million stadium ren-ovation project in the fall of 1997.Renovation to the stadium includednew seating and an enclosed three-tier press box on the stadium's westside, complete with Stadium ClubSuites. A new end zone facility wasconstructed to house the football lock-
er room, sports medicine room, andequipment room. Key to the projectwas replacing the existing artificialturf with a sand-based, natural turffield.
Eric Adkins, CSFM, joined theUniversity as Agronomist in September1997. He says, "Football has long beena highlight of the Northwestern athlet-ic program. The old stadium, built in1926, was named for William A. Dyche,former vice president and businessmanager of the University. In 1905, hehad directed construction of the origi-
nal wooden stands that had a seatingcapacity of 10,000. By the early 1920s,football popularity had outgrown thewooden stands and Dyche spearheadedthe planning of a 45,000-seat stadium.In 1949, the stadium was enlarged byenclosing the south end, whichincreased the seating capacity to49,256. The 1997 stadium renovationcontinued the University's commitmentto excellence in athletics.
"The renovated facility wasrenamed Ryan Field. To enhance thebeauty of the stadium, 900 purple and
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white mums are planted each year atthe north end of Ryan Field. Westrive to have these in full bloom forthe annual Homecoming game. Thisall combines to gain the field itsrecent nickname of 'The WrigleyField of College Football,'" saysAdkins.
Adkins reports a unique feature ofthe field conversion was lowering thefield level by 6 feet when the existingartificial turf field and running trackmaterials were removed. The fieldinstallation began in April 1997. TurfGrids were incorporated into the 16-inch sand-based soil profile. This wasplaced over the subsurface gravitydrainage system that is in a herring-bone pattern on 15-foot centers. Asideline drainage system wasinstalled to handle excess water fromthe stands. Both systems are chan-neled into the storm sewer system.
Grass berms were added on threesides of the field to soften the transitionfrom the playing field to the seatingareas. The sideline bench areas weredeveloped using a section of asphaltcovered with artificial turf. Thisextends from the 25-yard line to the 25-yard line and right up to the 6-footbor-der. Adkins notes this addition hasbeen a tremendous laborsaving device.
around them for protection. Then 15truck loads of the angular sand and88 tons of Profile were spread overthe field surface and tilled in to adepth of 6 inches. This thoroughlyincorporated the new material intothe original soil profile and TurfGrids, resulting in a soil profile forthe top 6 inches of the field of 80 per-
cent sand, 15 percent Profile and 5percent Dakota Reed Sedge Peat.This combination was retested andapproved.
"The field was then laser gradedand the 1 percent slope re-estab-lished by Van's Enterprises, Ltd. Dr.Dave Minner of Iowa State'University (see "Q&A, p. 46) served
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Irrigation zonesThe irrigation system has 11 zones
and the capacity to operate four ofthe zones at the same time. Zones 1through 7 are on the field, startingwith zone 1 at the end zone, zone 2 atthe 17-yard line, 3 at the 35, 4 at the50, 5 at the opposite 35, 6 at the 17,and 7 at the end zone. Zones 8 to 11are on the sidelines, with one cover-ing the perimeter goal post to the 50-yard line and one the 50-yard line tothe opposite goal on each side of thefield.
Adkins says, "Ryan Field under-went a partial renovation in 1999.Tests showed the sand particles weretoo spherical to provide the stabilityand footing we wanted to achieve.After numerous tests, we determinedthe best approach was to amend theexisting profile with a combination ofProfile soil amendment and a moreangular sand within the same USGAsize specification as the original.
"We had the old sod stripped offand removed. We flagged the irriga-tion heads and placed drain tile
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as our consultant on this project andhe helped us locate the bluegrass sod.It was a Scott's blend of Abbey,Covington, Nottingham, and Ascotgrown on a sandy soil by Newman'sSod Farm of Iowa City. They deliv-ered and installed the sod."
Adkins coordinated the project,making the purchases, setting thetarget dates and overseeing the on-site details. Ever conscience of thetime factor, he had an installationcompletion goal of April 30. Evenwith a few weather delays the sodwas down on May 12, just a few daysbehind his projections.
Adkins adds, "Dave Minner hadrecommended we specify that the sodfertilization be restricted so the turfwouldn't be 'over-pumped' when itarrived. This gave me a hungry sodthat was very responsive to anaggressive fertilization program. Ineffect, during the grow in, I could dothe pushing to make the turf betterinstead of trying to bring a lush turfback up to that level after the shockof the sodding process. This produced
From left to right: Rich Mpffit, STMA President; Eric Adkins, CSFM, Agronomist;Randy Stoneberg, Maintenance Forman
a stronger field. The turf stood upwell to graduation on June 18 andwas responding like an establishedfield by our first football game inSeptember."
Field performance has been excel-lent following the '99 renovation
according to Adkins. He notes, "I wasworking with the softball and baseballfields during the 2001 spring footballgame, but walked the field after thegame and there was no damage andno divots. Prior to this renovation, wewere putting down 2,000 to 3,000
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While Ryan Field is painted only for games, the athletic field staffstrives to keep the turf game-ready throughout the growing sea-
son as an incentive to attract prime athletes to the university.
pounds of perennial ryegrass each year to keep turf coveron the field. In 1999 and 2000, we needed only 50 to 100pounds of our bluegrass blend between games. We alsooverseeded with it in the spring before putting our growcover down.
"The top 6 inches of the soil profile drain at between 10and 14 inches per hour. The bottom 10 inches probably drainat 3 to 4 inches per hour. That means we're holding water atthe 6-inch level where it's accessible to the turf roots. We didcomplete a drill and fill procedure down the middle of thefield this May. We drilled to a 12-inch depth and filled withProfile. This will open up deep aeration and water percola-tion channels in the most heavily used section of the field.The only addition to the field we're making in 2001 is theinstallation of new goal posts donated by a local company."
Ryan Field is just one of Northwestern University'snine natural turf fields. The two football practice fields,one baseball and one softball field, a soccer field, a fieldhockey field and two six-acre multiple use fields total 25acres of athletic turf and facilities. These are used aspractice fields, and for camps, for intramurals and forClub sports in lacrosse, rugby, cricket, soccer, softball,baseball, and football. These eight fields are always inuse from late March or early April through November orDecember, when weather permits. There's also an artifi-cial turf field hockey field and an artificial turf indoorpractice facility. The football team generally uses the
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indoor facility for one day's practicebefore playing an away game on anartificial turf field.
Ryan Field hosts six football homegames in the fall, the intra-squadfootball game the third week of Apriland graduation ceremonies in mid-June. The football team uses thepractice fields for all their practicesessions. The band does not practiceon the game field.
Adkins says, "Though play andevents on Ryan Field are limited andclosely controlled, we strive to keep itin excellent condition at all times. Theoverall turf quality provides the bestpossible playing surface for the ath-letes. The aesthetics enhance theexperience of a college footballSaturday. The stadium also is used asa major recruiting mechanism for allsports, not only football. We neverknow when that star recruit may walkinto the stadium and see the field forthe first time, so we always strive tomake a good first impression."
That involves some detailedmanipulation. For example, before
the 2001 graduation ceremonies,irrigation was limited for severaldays to dry down the field and makeit less susceptible to compaction. Apreventive fungicide applicationwas made to ward off pythium. Thefield was covered with terraplasfrom 15-yard line to 15-yard lineand to the opposite hash mark. Thestage and on-field chairs were putin place.
A busy manGraduation was completed by 8:00
p.m. By 2:00 am the next day, thestage and chairs had been removedand the field was uncovered.
The multi-field University settingwas a change for Adkins, but obvious-ly one he has handled very well.From August 1994 until September1997, he had served as AssistantGroundskeeper at Chicago's SoldierField. There was just one field tofocus on, but it served triple duty forfootball, soccer, and concerts. Beforethat he served as Assistant Directorof Golf for the Chicago Park District,
overseeing the maintenance of sixgolf courses and two driving ranges.He's a graduate of Michigan StateUniversity's 2-year TurfgrassManagement Program and achievedCertified Sports Field Manager sta-tus February 1, 2000.
With nine fields and 20 coaches'practice schedules to accommodate,there's seldom any downtime. Adkinssays, "My direct supervisor, AssistantAthletic Director of Facilities JackFreeman, really understands theneeds of the athletic field programand is very supportive of it.Maintenance Foreman RandyStoneberg, and Groundskeepers RichThorn and Joe Berube do a great job.I think they're the best. They workwith a seasonal staff of four and addsix or seven student workers duringJune, July, and August. I develop themaintenance program and do thescheduling; they handle all the mow-ing, fertilization, and spraying. It'stheir dedication to excellence thatearned Ryan Field STMA Field of theYear honors."
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