Eden Park fits in $4m resurfacing between sports seasons

By WYNNE GRAY

Eden Park will have a $4m makeover next year with the No 1 ground excavated and replaced with an artificial grass and synthetic fibre surface.

After visits and research into stadiums in Australia, South Africa, the UK and the United States, the controlling Eden Park Trust Board chose to go with an American system.

"We are looking to press the button after the Indian one-day cricket series in January and have the ground ready again for Super 12 in late March," chief executive John Alexander revealed.

The Herald yesterday uncovered plans for the multimillion-dollar reconstruction when the draw for next season's Super 12 showed some unusual programming for the Blues.

For their first home game in round three against the Crusaders, the Blues were playing at Albany. And in rounds five and six the home game venue was unspecified.

Alexander said drainage at Eden Park had become much worse in recent years, some areas were in shade during the cricket season, and it was critical the park had a major revamp.

It would be the "biggest reconstruction ever on the surface" and had to be done to ensure a more productive future for the famous sporting arena.

He said his board decided last month to approve the Motz turf replacement system, a technique that was refined in Cincinnati.

"It has been used at the Bruce Stadium in Canberra, the Gabba, Colonial Stadium in Melbourne and the McG, all in the last year," said Alexander. "We have been most interested in them and the grass has come through in all cases."

Although rugby and cricket remained priority professional sports for Eden Park to service, Alexander said his board recognised the need for some diversity and greater use of the facilities.

"We would like to see other sports get on here. We want to get schoolchildren back playing here, club rugby and more community use of Eden Park without prejudicing rugby and cricket."

The search had been for a hard-wearing surface which suited all sports and could add the finishing touches to an overhaul of the drainage and foundations.

The board was seeking resource consent for the project, which would have contractors removing 16,000 sq m of dirt and rubble in an operation which would have the park out of action for about 10 weeks.

The Motz turf was growing at Maramarua. When ready it would be cut up and trucked to the ground. Cricket would still have the option of using drop-in pitches to allow a rapid swap of sporting codes.

However, the next cricket season will end after the one-day internationals against India on Boxing Day and January 11.

Eden Park would then be excavated and the surface relaid.

"The Motz is very robust," Alexander said. "It is like a mat and when there is some damage, as there will be, we can just replace sections of the ground."