TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Dream Field Rolling Out

ADVERTISEMENT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 10, 2009

It's arguably the nicest new lawn in the country: Raymond James Stadium is getting 95,000 square feet of Bermuda Southern hybrid 419 turf grown especially for Super Bowl XLIII.

Workers began laying the 41-foot-by-42-inch strips Friday morning and expected to be at it until Sunday evening, said Ed Mangan, director of Super Bowl field operations.

The grass, which cost Tampa $85,000, is the best athletic turf for the South, and a good choice for homeowners, he said, though it requires more care than regular Bermuda.

Sometime after the game, it will be taken up so the field can get a maintenance overhaul. A youth rugby team, the Tampa Barbarians, has asked for the grass for its playing field. It may be able to get it - if someone can move it.

More than 700 rolls of sod weighing 2,000 pounds each are arriving on dozens of tractor-trailer trucks - 20 more are expected today.

"It is a daunting task to move it," said Barbara Casey of the Tampa Sports Authority. The rolls likely will be ground up and used as fill, she said.
NFL players have ranked Raymond James Stadium's turf as the best in the nation, so it may reassure them to know the new grass is the same type as the old: Tifton Bermuda 419.

A staff report

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT