Courtesy of Wes Gullett SID Greensboro College Pride:
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Greensboro College has embarked on a $1 million project to convert Pride Field on back campus from natural grass to artificial turf. Groundbreaking will take place within days.
The project, expected to be complete within 10 weeks, will provide an all-weather practice and play surface for four of the college’s five field sports – men’s and women’s soccer and men’s and women’s lacrosse. It also will provide a practice venue for football and marching band and a site for campus events.
The football team will continue to play its games at Grimsley High School’s Jamieson Stadium.
Student athletes on the five field-sport teams comprise a significant portion of the college’s traditional undergraduate enrollment, so the project’s impact will be widespread. The new field also will aid those teams and the marching band in recruiting.
“The Board of Trustees earlier this year identified this project as the single most important step the college could take to help boost enrollment and improve the student experience,” said college President Lawrence D. Czarda, Ph.D. “We are pleased to be moving forward with it and look forward to its quick completion.”
The project is being funded with a combination of private gifts and bank financing. Major donors will be publicly identified at the ribbon cutting this fall.
“Today is a day that has brought many smiles to our coaching staff and all of our student-athletes,” Athletic Director Bryan Galuski said. “We all are very excited about the construction of our turf field. It will allow us to provide a much better student-athlete experience and provide a big-time collegiate feel.”
Contractors on the project are EDC of Midlothian, Va.; and Sports Construction Management of Lexington, N.C. The surface is AstroTurf’s 3D52Xtreme product.
For the latest updates on the project, continue to follow www.greensborocollegesports.com.