Baltimore County officials said Monday that they are going to spend millions on fake grass.
But not just any fake grass.
The state-of-the-art synthetic turf playing fields they want to build are more durable than grass fields and safer for athletes, said County Executive Jim Smith, because the surface is never irregular, never slippery and never muddy. His proposed 2007 budget for Baltimore County includes $2 million to fund the county?s first two synthetic turf fields at Catonsville High School and Seminary Park in Lutherville.
The news was received with joy by student athletes and Recreation and Parks employees at Catonsville Middle School.
“It?s very exciting, but it?s very expensive,” said Robert Barrett, director of the county?s Recreation and Parks Department. “We?ll get to see more play out of the fields and it gives those that are destroyed a chance to rest.”
The pilot program, supplemented by $400,000 in state money secured by the county?s Annapolis delegation, will make Baltimore one of the state?s first counties to buy synthetic turf fields for its public schools and the first for its public parks. Officials said the two sites, which will cost $1.2 million each, were chosen based on the decrepit conditions of their existing fields.
Several private schools in the county, such as Calvert Hall College High School and St. Paul?s School, have already invested in turf fields, and officials said they are reaping the benefits.
At Calvert Hall, an underground trench beneath the lacrosse, football and soccer fields drains rain so fast, games are played even in downpours, said athletic director Lou Eckerl.
“It?s awesome,” Eckerl said. “It?s really been excellent, and we?re looking in the future to do some more fields.”
Barrett said the fields have guaranteed 10-year life spans and lower maintenance costs compared to natural grass.
He said as news of the county?s pilot programs spread, other schools are calling for synthetic fields of their own and the county hopes to add one to two fields each year if the program is successful.
For now, Catonsville High will be the county?s only public school to boast a field matching professional gridirons.
“In the past 11 years, not one discussion about our fields has occurred without someone uttering, ?I wish, I wish,? ” said Catonsville High principal Robert Tomback. “Today, that wish has come true.”
