Pioneer LogLewis & Clark College’s Student-Run Newspaper

Old sports facilities get a makeover

September 17, 2010

by Scott Pisapia

Lewis & Clark’s athletic facilities received a heavy dose of transformation and building over this past summer. The more highlighted additions include new turf on the football field, an elevator added to Pamplin, and renovations to the Huston batting cage, Estate tennis courts, and Eldon Fix track.

The largest and possibly most noticeable change at LC is in Griswold Stadium. The field, which was before grounded with a material called AstroTurf 12, was replaced by brand-new, state-of-the-art AstroTurf 3D Gameday Grass. The new material has a forest green color and looks like real grass compared to the old turf which looked like a large stick of spearmint gum. Producers from the company AstroTurf said that the new material is to be more durable than that of the old material. The new material is so popular that it was also put in this summer by the St. Louis Rams (NFL), Toronto Blue Jays (MLB), and Buffalo Bills (NFL).

Matthew Lettunich (’12), a safety on the football team, has been on the old and new turf and likes the upgrade.

“The new material is way better for the body. It seems to be easier on the joints, and based off the past couple years I would say we have had less injuries up to this point in the year compared to the old turf. It is cushioned and springy, but looks like real grass. There’s just a whole new vibe out there with the field.”
The material was tested out to be the best, top performing, most like real-grass material out of all 16 companies that produce synthetic infill field surfaces. It has five layers compared to the old turf which only had three.Lettunich believes this goes beyond just improving the school.
“It shows us students that LC, and the people involved with the college, are trying to progress the academics as well as the athletics and this progression is an exciting process to watch.”

Beyond installing a professional playing turf at the stadium, LC has recorded a first over the summer. The baseball cage renovation makes it the first time that LC has its own covered batting cage facility. The covered cage contains turf, nets, and screens. Physical education classes as well as baseball and softball athletic teams will use the facility. Also being renovated were the Estate tennis courts. They were resurfaced back to their original look of clay, and surrounding brick was refinished. The outdoor court next to the dome was also resurfaced.

The Eldon Fix track was pressure washed over the summer by work-study students, and then was followed up with a repainting and restriping of the track surface.
Beyond playing areas, parts of the Pamplin Sports Center were worked on. An elevator was installed near the bottom entrance/exit of Pamplin which takes you to the doors near the basketball courts, as well as downstairs near the weight room.