The city of Kent will spend about $1.9 million to replace a grass baseball/softball field with synthetic turf this summer at Hogan Park at Russell Road.
Field No. 1 will close June 26 and reopen in late October with a new surface that can host multiple sporting events year round. The City Council awarded the contract on April 18 to Snohomish-based Premier Field Development.
The field conversion will allow more baseball and softball games to be played at the site and will accommodate soccer, lacrosse and rugby. The city annually draws numerous baseball and softball tournaments to Hogan Park, 24400 Russell Road.
“We schedule this field 183 days a year on average and we can close to double that with around 330 to 360 days a year,” City Parks Director Julie Parascondola said at the council meeting.
The city already cancelled about two dozen events this year at the field because of wet weather.
“On average this field loses about 40 days of play-ability and we are already halfway there in the first quarter,” Parascondola said. “That shows when we have these wonderful assets and the community can only use them a certain time of year, it’s very challenging and frustrating.”
While grass becomes too wet and slippery to play on, synthetic turf allows athletes to keep their footing.
“They will play rain or shine,” Parascondola said. ” The only way we would cancel a game on a synthetic field is if there are freezing temperatures and the ground is getting frozen.”
The city will pay for the project with $962,000 from the parks capital improvement fund (mostly from the real estate excise tax of 0.50 percent on all property sales), a $750,000 grant from the state Recreation and Conservation Office and a $25,000 donation from the Kent Lions Club. The city’s capital fund also will cover the state sales tax of about $173,000 on the contract to Premier Field Development.
Crews will install a pad under the turf at a cost of about $183,000 to enhance player safety and increase the life-cycle of the field.
Premier Field Development has installed numerous synthetic turf fields across the state, including projects at Kentridge and Kentwood high schools.
The city of Kent replaced the synthetic turf at Wilson Playfields, 13028 SE 251st St., in 2014 at a cost of $1.8 million. The city used $500,000 from the general fund, $800,000 from the real estate excise tax and the remainder from delaying other park improvement projects identified in the capital improvement fund to pay for the project. The city opened that park in 2002 with synthetic turf.
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