Notre Dame Says Goodbye to Old Turf
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe University of Notre Dame's sale of hundreds of sections of natural grass from its football stadium is now complete. The Elkhart Truth reports more than 1,100 online pre-orders were received and the sod was shipped Wednesday. The university is in the process of replacing the natural surface with synthetic turf. The new surface should be complete in August.
The publication also says many lined up Wednesday outside Notre Dame Stadium to purchase sections that had not been sold online.
Sources: The Elkhart Truth and University of Notre Dame Athletics
May 22, 2014
News Release
NOTRE DAME, Ind. (May 19, 2014) – For a limited time this week the University of Notre Dame athletics department is offering fans the opportunity to purchase two-foot-by-five-foot sections of the actual natural grass from historic Notre Dame Stadium.
Last month Notre Dame vice president and athletics director Jack Swarbrick announced that a FieldTurf artificial surface will be installed for the 2014 football season. Installation of the new surface is slated to begin this week following the University's May 16-18 Commencement Weekend. As a result, the natural grass will be removed this week.
In response to fans who expressed feelings about the sentimental value of the natural turf, the athletics department is offering 10-foot-square sections of sod that can be replanted. The sections of grass will be removed by Tuesday (May 20), packaged and shipped on Wednesday (May 21) for arrival to locations throughout the continental United States by Friday (May 23). Each section costs $149.95, which includes two-day shipping and comes with a certificate of authenticity attesting to it as genuine Notre Dame Stadium grass. Go to www.und.com/grass for details on purchasing sod.
Notre Dame is partnering with J.P. Enterprises out of Mississauga, Ontario, to handle logistics of the sale. Customer questions can be directed to ndturf@jpent.com.
The athletics department determined that the addition of artificial turf in Notre Dame Stadium would provide greater consistency for the Irish squad, considering it already practices both outdoors and indoors on FieldTurf. In addition, annual Commencement events and impending Campus Crossroads Project construction make ongoing maintenance of a grass field more difficult.
Source: University of Notre Dame Athletics