By TRAVIS HARMON-SMITH
Staff Reporter
Landscaping becomes a high expenditure when it comes to mowing, watering, and essentially having a set time schedule for lawn care.
The mowing and watering days will come to closure at Ranger Field as Northwestern Oklahoma State University will install new artificial turf this spring.
The decision has been under consideration for quite some time and was finalized when the Northwestern administration entered a contract with Field Turf USA, Inc., to install the playing surface. By replacing the current Bermuda grass at Ranger field, this will lower costs for lawn maintenance and also use less water.
The Bermuda grass has been a part of Ranger Field since 1969.
According to University president Janet Cunningham, the installation of artificial turf will give Ranger Field a new look and appeal for spectators. “The new artificial turf field will be the final piece to the transformation of Ranger Field through the Vision for Victory Campaign for athletics,” Cunningham said in a recent press release. “The turf, in conjunction with the new locker room and press box, will make Ranger Field one of the showcase facilities in Oklahoma.”
Artificial turf is not the only element being renovated at Ranger Field. Other areas of Ranger Field, such as the locker room, and press box, have also seen changes. The Ranger football program has installed a new state-of-the-art fitness facility for strength and conditioning and offseason training located in the field house where players and coaching staff meet for team activity and game preparation.
Along with a new fitness facility will be a press box. The construction of the press box is ongoing, but it will provide fans and spectators new comfort and relaxation for games and other sporting events. It will serve as a better facility for the press and other news media personnel to report in a more spacious environment.
Cunningham also explained in a recent press release that private funding was used for purchase and installment of the field turf alongside support from Pioneer Cellular, whose logo will be included on the turf once complete.
Even with private funding, other financial efforts were initiated locally for the project as Banc Central National Association and Alva State Bank and Trust purchased rights for business advertisements on the sidelines during games next fall.
Having artificial field turf will be beneficial for facility maintenance and student-athlete recruitment in the future. According to Cunningham, it will also attract recruits. which will be a major advantage for competition. “Many of the student-athletes we are recruiting, especially from larger schools, already play on artificial surfaces, so this will become an advantage for us in that respect,” Cunningham said.
Another bright spot to having turf will be the opportunity to host several events such as high school playoff and post-season all-star games.
Official construction for the artificial field turf has begun immediately as ordered by University administration. The Vision for Victory campaign has a designed a blueprint of how the turf will look once completed; that can be seen on the University webpage at www.nwosu.edu.
The project is scheduled to be completed in March.