ARTIFICIAL TURF BEING CONSIDERED FOR HIGH-USE PLAYING FIELDS.

Byline: Naush Boghossian Staff Writer

GLENDALE - City and school officials are considering installing artificial turf at high-use fields where it's difficult for grass to grow, reflecting an emerging trend at schools and parks.

City staffers are recommending resurfacing 189,000 square feet of turf at the Glendale Sports Complex, which includes two soccer fields, at a cost of about $2 million. The plan is to complete the project this winter.

Because of heavy use, the grass doesn't get the time it needs to grow, reducing the fields to dirt, said Koko Panossian of the city's Parks and Recreation Department. Quite often, when fields are replanted with seed every summer, the grass only lasts about two months before it dies.

``This really is amazing stuff,'' City Manager Jim Starbird said of the turf. ``You don't have to water it, mow it, it's always green and they say it's better turf to play on than real grass.''

During the 2003-04 fiscal year, the city spent about $95,000 to maintain the Sports Complex fields.

The Glendale Unified School District is also considering resurfacing the Glendale and Hoover high football fields with the turf as part of the modernization projects for the schools. Each is expected to cost up to $1.5 million including a running track.

The football fields, for example, are used not only by students but also by community groups on weekends.

``The artificial turf would present a much more uniform playing surface for all interested parties,'' said Ken Gilleland, construction project manager for the school district. ``But this is a big expense and budgets are tight.''

With blades that look just like real grass, new artificial turf is softer than AstroTurf. It has a mixture of sand and rubber underneath synthetic grass and a life span of 10 to 15 years.

One of the drawbacks to the artificial turf is it gets five to 10 degrees hotter than real grass in the heat - a problem easily remedied by sprinkling the field with water.

The private St. Francis High School in La Canada Flintridge put in artificial turf two years ago and the school board in Santa Clarita has approved installing the faux grass at its four high schools at a cost of nearly $10 million. Burbank is also looking at replacing the grass on its high school fields.

But Councilman Gus Gomez, an avid soccer player, has some questions about the safety of the artificial turf and whether it makes players more likely to break bones or suffer from scratches.

``My concern is primarily about safety since soccer players are doing a lot of twisting and turning and very often they fall down. What happens when somebody falls on artificial turf?'' Gomez asked. ``Are we saving money on replanting the field only to have to spend the money on possible liability from use of the field?''

City officials maintain the ``grass'' is safer than real turf.

``Research has shown us people are less likely to get seriously injured on these types of fields than on regular grass,'' Panossian said.

Naush Boghossian, [phone]

naush.boghossian(at)dailynews.com