Despite costing about three times more than real grass, the synthetic turf on the city’s new baseball field will conserve water, officials say.
Española Planning and Zoning Director Russell Naranjo said the synthetic turf on the new field, located along Industrial Park Road beside Carlos F. Vigil Middle School, cost about $300,000. He said real grass would have cost around $100,000.
But Naranjo said the synthetic turf is a good preliminary investment for the facility and the city will not have to water or mow the turf for maintenance.
“When you look at the expenses in maintaining grass, as well as the field equipment necessary, such as the lawn mowers … what you’ve spent on your grass, you’re now matching what you’ve spent on your synthetic turf,” he said. “For the synthetic turf, you still have maintenance, but you don’t have a crazy amount of work. It’s an initial investment.”
But the synthetic turf will require the purchase of grooming equipment, which could cost about $30,000, interim city manager Joe Duran said.
The city can conserve one million gallons of water used in field maintenance per year because of the synthetic turf, said General Services Department Director Juanito Maes, who oversees the project.
“We’re trying to conserve in water, the maintenance of them is a lot easier than the actual grass fields, and the area that we’re in, it’s just really hot and really windy,” he said. “It’s just going to be hard to maintain grass fields.”
Synthetic turf for the field was laid down May 19, Maes said. He said city workers will start placing red dirt around the field this week and the streets department will continue to conduct further excavation and dirt work on the project.
Fencing will be installed around the field and the facility should be ready in five weeks, Maes said.
Naranjo said the city allotted an initial amount of $590,000 earmarked specifically for the baseball field, but because initial construction expenses added up to more than this amount, the city allotted another $186,000 from recreational funds. The New Mexico Legislature also allotted $50,000 in support of the project, but the city has not received this money yet, he said.
Because the city still has to pay for constructing bases, dugouts, concession stands and restrooms for the facility, Naranjo said he is urging the Rio Arriba County to help the project financially.
“The city of Española has always stepped up to the plate and provided for all of the region as far as recreation,” he said. “People from all over the County have always come in and are able to use all of our facilities. But there’s a time when the County needs to help us in constructing and maintaining some of these facilities as well.”
Naranjo did not give a final budget estimate for the project.
At the moment, the city maintains five other baseball fields, Naranjo said. But he said these facilities are not enough for Española residents, so the project’s cost is worth it.
“A lot of our locals play in other municipalities because we don’t have enough facilities here in Española,” he said. “They go to Los Alamos, to Rio Rancho, to Albuquerque. There was a need for more recreation in this area. In Española, we have many areas with drug addiction and not enough things for the youth to actually do. It’s our opportunity to be proactive as opposed to reactive.”
Naranjo said he hopes the baseball field will attract more people to Española through tournaments, which can help economic development in the city.
Maes said the city has already started to schedule games at the field.
“There’s a lot of baseball leagues that are waiting for these fields,” he said. “We’re inviting a lot of teams for tournaments, and we’re hoping that everybody joins us in the use of the fields.”