Whitman High School's $1.3 million dollar artificial turf football field has failed.
MSI Soccer put in this field, who is on the hook to make required repairs? Will the warranty cover what is needed to make the field usable again? What is the mystery infill that MCPS now claims has "exceptional results?"
Whitman High School's artificial turf field used IDA ORE infill.
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On Thursday, February 10, 2022, 4:36 PM, Robert Dodd wrote:
Dear Walt Whitman High School Community Members,
This message was developed in collaboration with the MCPS Division of Construction. The purpose of this message is to provide our community with both an update on the repair of the Walt Whitman High School (WHHS) artificial turf field and an outline on the reopening of the field.
As many are aware, the WWHS artificial turf field system consists of multiple components, which include organic infill, the artificial field carpet, and an underdrainage system. Over the past three years, MCPS has maintained the artificial field consistent with warranty requirements. A link to the Artificial Turf Fields Program and artificial turf maintenance logs can be accessed at: https://www2.
montgomeryschoolsmd.org/ departments/athletics/ programs/default/542923/ Even with the required maintenance over the last three years, the turf system has failed and is not draining at the rate required to make the surface playable after a rain event. MCPS is pursuing this failure as a condition of warranty and is coordinating with the contractor and manufacturer to make appropriate repairs to restore the field to full compliance. The approach to repairing the field will include removing the original organic infill and sand mixture and utilizing a newer organic infill that MCPS has recently been installing. MCPS has found that this new infill has produced exceptional results.
The timeline of these repairs is contingent on the availability of specialized equipment as well as securing the infill material. Once the work begins, we anticipate a 3 to 4 week period to make the appropriate repairs. The timing of this work will compromise the beginning of spring sports. That said, our goal continues to be to have the turf field open as soon as possible during the spring season. MCPS Athletics is working with us to ensure that our student-athletes are impacted to the minimal amount possible as this work occurs. We will share specific changes to practice and contest locations and schedules within the next week.
We appreciate the patience and understanding of the Whitman community and look forward to reopening the field, once the necessary repairs have been completed. We will keep you updated once the repairs have begun. Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Robert W. Dodd, EdD
Principal
Walt Whitman High School
Odd that none of the inspections reported any problems with the field. Who tested the field and found the problems and where are those problems documented? This is the same Zeolite infill that Was installed at other schools and which the athletes and coaches have complained about. Will those be removed as well? Also the Soccerplex quickly removed their Zeolite infills soon after installing. As community members and scientists testified - using ground up volcanic glass- like mineral, more often used in cat litter boxes, for a sports field was a very bad idea from the start. Here is a link to the maintenance record:
ReplyDeletehttps://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eYBDmwBL9gI-O0xPRTRPqM31l0_BtEoQvz1Nk39k2gE/edit?usp=sharing