Let The Piper Field Turf Unroll

Noon Monday marked a new beginning at Piper Field as bright artificial turf unrolled across mid-field, forming the first green strip over the gray base. 

Within two weeks the field will be green and ready.

And in little more than two weeks, Thursday, Sept. 12, the school will hold a formal rededication ceremony, said Marblehead School Athletic Director Mark Tarmey.

Sept. 12, will also see Marblehead High athletes running and tackling on the turf: a varsity soccer game vs. Swampscott in the afternoon; and a varsity football game vs. Lynn Classical at night.

The athletic director said it is undetermined whether those will be the first contests on the surface. 

One thing for sure is the field will host lots of games — varsity football, field hockey, boys and girls soccer and boys and girls lacrosse games.

There will be 80 high school contests in the fall and 80 high school contests in the spring, the athletic director said. And there will be 12 night contests this year.

In addition it will host youth football, soccer, lacrosse and flag football games.

"Everyone is excited," he said.

The field came together quickly.

Eleven months ago, a small group that started at six then grew to 12 members raised the entire $875,000 for the project — all private funds.

Field project organizers looked at 30 fields before deciding on the SPRINTURF variety, the athletic director said.

The field is expected to last about 10 years.

On Monday crews worked diligently: unrolling , stretching and placing artificial surface before shearing edges and stitching sections.

Over the next two weeks, the crews from the Georgia company SPRINTURF will unroll, trim and stitch the entire surface; inlay playing field lines; and infill cryogenic rubber pellets, placing them over and inside the turf, said project foreman, Timucin Karca.

"The fibers will interlock and stand up like grass," the foreman said.

Upon completion the multi-purpose field will be ready for play, immediately, he said.

High School Facilities Director Richard Matthews said that after crews put down the first section at mid-field they counted the blades of artificial grass, making sure they were equidistant from the center of the field.

Soon the blades will spread to a field of artificial grass, and the games will begin.