New B.C. Place turf selected

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B.C.FAN
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The four-year-old Polytan playing surface at B.C. Place is being replaced by a new Polytan surface this spring. For those who complained about the old surface, I'm not sure this is much of an upgrade. Here's the announcement from PavCo.:
NEW PLAYING SURFACE SELECTED FOR BC PLACE STADIUM



March 27, 2015

Vancouver, BC- Following a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) process, PavCo has entered into an agreement with Centaur Products Inc, a Burnaby BC based supplier of Polytan GmbH - a globally recognized producer of world-class synthetic turf - to supply and install a new, upgraded playing surface at BC Place.

The upgraded multi-purpose turf will be used throughout the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™, 2016 World Rugby Seven Series, as well as for the home teams BC Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and other professional and community sports at BC Place. The installation of the new surface is scheduled to take place during the second half of May 2015.

Key Facts: •BC Place is a best-in-class facility that has an ambitious future on the world sport stage hosting the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015™ and the 2016 World Rugby Seven Series.
•Four bids were received in response to a detailed Request for Proposals (RFP) posted February 25, 2015 on the BC Bid website.
•The chosen Centaur/Polytan turf is certified to meet both FIFA 2-Star and World Rugby Regulation 22 specifications as tested on the existing elastic layer at BC Place. The new turf provides superior standards for world class sport, playability and performance, player safety and health, maintenance and warranties, safety and environmental standards, as well as cost and value.
•The specific product chosen is LigaTurf RS+CoolPlus World Cup Edition 260 W ACS 90 Bionic Fibre Infill.
•The upgraded turf will be a unique dual tone green, designed by Polytan for exceptional HD broadcast presentation.

The current Polytan turf at BC Place was scheduled for replacement in 2016. As a result of financial contributions from Canada Soccer and Rugby Canada however, the turf is being replaced sooner. The funding partnership comprises of $827,000 contributed by PavCo, with the balance of $500,000 funded by Canada Soccer and Rugby Canada. The total cost for the upgrade is $1,327,000 CDN.

The existing playing surface, once removed, will be thoroughly assessed for recycling and suitability for alternate uses.

Quotes:

Honourable Todd Stone, Minster of Transportation and Infrastructure
“The economic activity that this will generate is substantial and new turf is an investment that will benefit not only rugby and soccer, but our own home teams. We’re very excited to welcome FIFA Women’s World Cup this June and the World Rugby Sevens in 2016. It’s a fantastic opportunity for BC Place and the people of B.C.”

Graham Ramsay, Director, Sales and Marketing, BC Place
“Confirmation of an upgraded playing surface is a huge win for BC Place. The unique partnership opportunity allowed the turf upgrade earlier than anticipated, ensuring we have a state of the art venue for the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015, the World Rugby Sevens Series in 2016, and our home teams, the BC Lions and Vancouver Whitecaps FC.”

Victor Montagliani, President of Canada Soccer and Chair of the National Organising Committee for the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015™
“We are pleased that PavCo is partnering with Canada Soccer to upgrade the field before the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015™. We know that the new surface will ensure that the highest quality turf is available for the participating nations in the tournament. We cannot wait for the first match to kick off at BC Place on June 8 and look forward to the Final match on July 5 when the world will be watching the best women’s soccer players compete for the Winner’s Trophy.”

Graham Brown, CEO, Rugby Canada
“The new turf is purrfect for what we need in a state-of-the-art facility holding a world class event. The improved playing surface is sure to be a hit with all players involved in international rugby. Rugby Canada felt strongly about contributing financially towards replacing the turf at BC Place. We are confident that this is a worthwhile investment and will enable Canada to host further Rugby Internationals in Vancouver in the years to come”.

Dennis Skulsky, President, BC Lions Football Club
“BC Place remains an outstanding facility for our team as we prepare for the upcoming season. The new state of the art turf ensures that the stadium remains the number one facility in the CFL for the future.”

Bob Lenarduzzi, President, Vancouver Whitecaps FC
“Vancouver Whitecaps FC are proud to call BC Place home, and are tremendously excited about the upgraded playing surface that will be installed this May. The addition of the new Polytan turf proves that Vancouver is a world-class soccer city and we look forward to hosting our first match on the new pitch.”

Jim Grozdanich, Centaur Products, Polytan
“As a world leader in sport surfacing and sport facility construction for more than 40 years, Centaur is the exclusive Canadian Supplier of Polytan, a FIFA Preferred Producer of the highest-quality synthetic turf systems. Centaur is excited to have been selected once again to provide BC Place with a high-quality playing surface for their professional sports teams and other world-class sporting events. Our extensive experience in supplying sport facilities around the world with elite playing surfaces will make BC Place one of the best synthetic turf fields in the world.”
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KnowItAll
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I thought the old new surface was supposed to be the best thing since the old old surface.
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B.C.FAN
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KnowItAll wrote:I thought the old new surface was supposed to be the best thing since the old old surface.
Soccer players (American women, in particular) didn't like it, the blades were too short to meet international rugby specifications and I thought it looked ugly. It was apparently due to be replaced next year anyway, so this is at least a quick, cheap upgrade.
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Rammer
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B.C.FAN wrote:
KnowItAll wrote:I thought the old new surface was supposed to be the best thing since the old old surface.
Soccer players (American women, in particular) didn't like it, the blades were too short to meet international rugby specifications and I thought it looked ugly. It was apparently due to be replaced next year anyway, so this is at least a quick, cheap upgrade.

IIRC it was a new type of turf at the time of its installation, so you can expect to be the guinea pig when you choose a new product. Unfortunately BC Place was the guinea pig that didn't really work out. With the Women's World Cup games here, it makes sense to make the change. I am sure the WhiteCaps are happy with the change, as the turf looks terrible on TV for their games.
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Honour Dewalt
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Everyone keeps saying how terrible it looked on tv. I never minded the look. I thought it made it look real since not all grass is perfectly green. Remember the natural grass at Commonwealth? I have never like the really green fake turfs, like the older old turf we had. But I'm sure this new stuff will look pretty natural. Right now I think the worst looking turf for tv is in Toronto. It's different shades, it seems to reflect light and glisten. Looks terrible.
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David
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Interesting. The 3 major sports teams' Presidents were on Breakfast Television (CTV) this morning.

Fast forward to 6:20 CLICK HERE - the host asks what they think about the new field turf being installed at BC Place. Suddenly, before Bobby Lenarduzzi can answer, Wally jokes with him as an aside, "don't get me in trouble" - meaning that Wally is not happy about either the change in turf or perhaps the timing. It's a little unclear. Any speculation? Maybe it's because they want to be a fast team and perhaps the taller blades or "grass" will somehow compromise that (although the turf will be the same for both teams).


DH :cool:
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Toppy Vann
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David wrote:Interesting. The 3 major sports teams' Presidents were on Breakfast Television (CTV) this morning.

Fast forward to 6:20 CLICK HERE - the host asks what they think about the new field turf being installed at BC Place. Suddenly, before Bobby Lenarduzzi can answer, Wally jokes with him as an aside, "don't get me in trouble" - meaning that Wally is not happy about either the change in turf or perhaps the timing. It's a little unclear. Any speculation? Maybe it's because they want to be a fast team and perhaps the taller blades or "grass" will somehow compromise that (although the turf will be the same for both teams).


DH :cool:
I was wondering if they were meaning the cost to the clubs.

I doubt it has a speed issue.

But I'm glad they chose a BURNABY SUPPLIER - unlike when Gordon Campbell was Premier we had to give BC business to Alberta firms where the tax regimes are different and we screw our own firms.
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Qman
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New turf install is finished on thursday.

You can get a look at it Saturday afternoon at 3pm on TSN's Whitecaps game
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B.C.FAN
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From the article:
Spectators and television viewers will also notice a considerable colour difference with the playing surface. Light green and dark green filaments are used to provide the turf with a more natural look and exceptional HD broadcast presentation.
We finally have a turf that looks like real grass. It's designed to look good on HDTV but I'm looking forward to a better in-stadium atmosphere with the new turf, upper deck tarping and hopefully a more exciting offence. Get your tickets before they're gone. :cr:
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Lions4ever
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Please don't ruin this by painting cheesy minor-leaqguesque ads all over it.
TheLionKing
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Lions4ever wrote:Please don't ruin this by painting cheesy minor-leaqguesque ads all over it.
X2 Unfortunately it will happen
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sj-roc
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TheLionKing wrote:
Lions4ever wrote:Please don't ruin this by painting cheesy minor-leaqguesque ads all over it.
X2 Unfortunately it will happen
We haven't had that for several years now aside from post-season games that come under league aegis, even before the roof renovation. Do you know for a fact this is now changing, or just resigned that it will eventually?

One hindrance to field ads seems to be the constant changeovers between Lions/Caps, which would add to this workload. Almost certainly the same field ads wouldn't be displayed for both teams unless it was arranged through Pavco, but I'm not sure if this was ever the case. This would also explain the use of those portable sandwich-board style upright ads that flank the team benches on the sidelines (mind you, I don't think those would go away if field ads ever returned).
Sports can be a peculiar thing. When partaking in fiction, like a book or movie, we adopt a "Willing Suspension of Disbelief" for enjoyment's sake. There's a similar force at work in sports: "Willing Suspension of Rationality". If you doubt this, listen to any conversation between rival team fans. You even see it among fans of the same team. Fans argue over who's the better QB or goalie, and selectively cite stats that support their views while ignoring those that don't.
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