Breakin’ ground on a new field

Andrew Edwards

The Laguna Beach High Breaker’s won’t be giving their opponents any

grass stains when they make tackles at football games this fall.

There won’t be any more grass at Guyer Field to ruin anybody’s

uniforms, no matter how intense the action gets on the gridiron.

This season, the Breakers will be playing on an all-new,

all-artificial field. Installation of the artificial turf is in its

final phases, and school officials expect the turf to be in place at

the start of next week.

“It’s going to be ready Monday at noon for our first football

practice,” Breaker’s Athletic Director Ron Schwartz said.

School district officials approved the switch from real grass to

what turf manufacturer Sportexe calls OmniGrass because the field

gets worn out year after year under the cleats of the school’s

football and soccer players, as well as outside groups that play on

the field.

Schwartz said synthetic turf will give soccer players a chance to

play on a field that hasn’t been beat up by rough and tumble football

play.

“Soccer is going to have as good a field as football does,”

Schwartz said.

School officials and the turf’s manufacturer said the field, which

has an all-rubber infill, will be about as safe as natural grass.

“The design is to have a softer, safer design for the high school

students,” said Jon Merry of Sportexe. “We try to get is as close to

natural grass as possible.”

The bright green field came at a hefty price. The district’s

construction project administrator, Carl Neuhausen, said the cost to

install artificial turf on the field, as well as a new synthetic

surface for the track around the field is projected to come in at

$1.6 million. The district has budgeted $3.2 million for

refurbishments that include the football field, track, baseball field

and landscaping.

All but $350,000 of the planned expenses are slated be paid with

by using revenues from Measure R, the $39-million bond passed in

2001. Neuhausen said he doesn’t expect any cost overruns.

“We’re pretty certain we’re going to come within budget,” he said.

In 2000,a committee formed to assess the district’s facilities

needs recommended the district issue bonds to pay for improvements to

Laguna schools. It identified a need for $500,000 to renovate the

high school’s athletic field.

School board member Jan Vickers said district leaders gradually

decided to pay for turf, and that she was ultimately persuaded to

support the idea because the field is so heavily used.

“It took a while to convince me that it wasn’t more fancy than we

needed,” Vickers said.

The district’s use of bond money is overseen by a citizen’s

committee, and the body’s members are satisfied with the project,

committee member Jim McBride said.

“We’re delighted that we’re nearly done,” McBride said. “Not only

that, but we’re coming in on budget. We’re extremely excited.”