KNOXVILLE - The University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture and AstroTurf broke ground on the study of the ground Wednesday.
The two partners dedicated the Center for Athletic Field Safety at the UT East Tennessee Research and Education Center. The $1.5 million facility, which resulted from a joint effort from UT and Dalton, Ga.-based AstroTurf initiated last June, features 60 small-scale athletic fields that will allow scientists to compare and research the performance and safety of natural and synthetic surfaces.
"This program puts us on the cutting edge," UT president Joe DiPietro said. "The institute of agriculture ... has a characteristic and a tradition of being at the cutting edge, and this is another very good example of doing that. We're in the solution business because we're a land-grant institution that has committed to providing solutions to all the people. This project is very, very unique. It will be significant from the big leagues to the little league."
The field compositions range from professional-level sports to surfaces used by schools, public parks and recreational fields. Scientists also will analyze the environmental impacts of each surface.
"Our goal is to make fields safer at all levels," said Dr. John Sorochan, an associate professor in turfgrass science at UT. "It's now possible, I believe, to improve the quality of all athletic fields thanks to the people at Astroturf. Their vision to see that it's not just the synthetic turf they represent, but they're representing every athletic field in the country that's natural and synthetic to make them safer. It's going to be wonderful over the years to see how this actually grows and the differences we'll see and the quality of fields."
UT football coach Derek Dooley, Clark Gaines, Ernie Conwell and Bill Paprocki from the NFL Players Association and Bob Boone, the assistant general manager for Major League Baseball's Washington Nationals, attended the dedication.
"The quicker that we get this information out to the industry," AstroTurf president Bryan Peeples said, "folks like AstroTurf and the others we compete with on the open market can change their products so it will provide a safe environment and a safe surface for athletes."