Arlington County is about to spend millions of dollars on new green developments — synthetic green, that is.
County officials plan to install five new synthetic outdoor playing fields during the next three years, nearly doubling Arlington’s current inventory of six artificial turf fields.
Installation of each field would cost county taxpayers about $1.5 million, not including additional maintenance costs such as surface replacement, which can run upward of $975,000 about every eight years.
“Synthetic grass is a more expensive field. But it’s a higher quality field,” said County Board member Barbara Favola.
Favola emphasized the consistency of a synthetic field’s playing surface, most notably its durability and its ability to drain water quickly.
“It’s extraordinarily hard to get a grass field to the quality level of a synthetic field,” Favola said, explaining that natural grass surfaces required annual reseeding and periods of inactivity.
Synthetic turf is made of a polyethylene fiber that can withstand many more hours of use than a traditional grass surface. However, to get the most out of the artificial turf, the county typically installs lighting — at an average cost of $300,000 — so that the fields can stay open well past dark.
But not everyone agrees that the lighting is a worthwhile expense.
County Board member Chris Zimmerman argued that lights were a luxury the county may have to forgo in favor of other more important budget considerations.
While the lighting question is still up for debate, the county intends to install the new fields at Thomas Jefferson Middle School, Long Bridge Park and Rocky Run Park, according to documents provided by the county manager’s office.
Board Chairman Jay Fisette said residents backed the county’s decision to install synthetic fields despite the costs.
“They’re hugely popular,” Fisette said. “I don’t hear much pushback at all.”
That wasn’t the case when the county initially proposed installing new artificial fields, back in 2002.
“Some neighborhoods resisted because they felt it would bring more traffic to the area,” Fisette said. “But those complaints have since died down.”
