Rice-Eccles Stadium got its big old facelift done in 1998. The minor plastic surgeries, however, keep on coming.
The stadium is getting its third playing surface in four years installed. The latest ground the players will walk upon is FieldTurf, a synthetic that looks and plays like natural grass.
The installation process begins May 11 and concludes in late June.
It became necessary to resurface Rice-Eccles after the natural grass the U football team previously played upon was covered over by blacktop for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics.
“Our top priority was to install the best surface available for our football team,” said U athletics director Chris Hill. “Two of my main concerns were that the surface was safe and playable for our athletes, and I am more than satisfied that FieldTurf addresses those issues.”
The FieldTurf fibers, which can’t be distinguished from real grass by sight, touch, or play, are made from a polyethylene and polypropylene blend, and have an in-fill of graded silica sand and ground rubber. Each blade is UV protected and heat resistant, and the surface is playable 12 months a year with minimal maintenance. It has a life expectancy of 8 to 15 years.
“FieldTurf is a proven commodity and everyone that has it loves it,” said football coach Ron McBride. “This will allow us to increase the number of times we use our stadium; for instance, we’ll be able to practice on it whenever we want.”
Prior to FieldTurf, Rice Eccles’ used the experimental SportGrass (a hybrid of natural grass and turf) from 1995 to ’99, then switched to natural grass for the 2000 and 2001 seasons.