Commonwealth’s real grass could be turfed

A report that will be presented to city council on Wednesday recommends that the city should enter into a cost sharing agreement with the Edmonton Eskimos that would see the real grass removed from Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium in favour of artificial turf.

The plan calls for the turf to hit the field before the regular CFL season starts in June.

The total cost to perform the conversion will be $2.6 million with $2.1 million coming from the Commonwealth Stadium Reserve Fund. The Eskimos would pay $500,000 up front, and another $800,000 over a six year period.

“Due to challenges in ensuring field quality, along with maintenance expense, flexibility to accommodate a variety of events, rest time required by natural grass fields, and impact of inclement weather, the Edmonton Eskimos and the Community Services Department are in agreement that the natural grass field at Commonwealth Stadium should be replaced with an artificial turf field,” the report said.

The report goes on to say that artificial turf would require less water and no fertilizer use.

Commonwealth Stadium is the only stadium in Canada that still has a real grass field.

With files from The Edmonton Journal