Manhattan Beach, CA – Over the last 7 years, Mira Costa High School had been in need of a major overhaul of its practice fields. This year, they’re enjoying an athletic footprint that’s beautiful, well expanded, functional, and environmentally friendly. Last fall MBX (an athletic, performing arts and extra-curricular foundation) and the school partnered to construct a unique multipurpose field. During this time the Baseball Booster Club decided to replace its old turf. Both fields feature cutting edge turf technology from AstroTurf®, and the reviews have been glowing.
Mira Costa West Field, the new multi-sport field on campus, is the distinctive centerpiece. The custom-design field employs over 145,000 square feet of AstroTurf’s Green Series DT synthetic turf. This high-end product utilizes a dense matrix of slit film fibers and AstroTurf’s patented RootZone sub-layer for maximum durability. Foregoing traditional crumb rubber infill, the DT system uses ZeoFill, an organic material made from a mineral found in vitamins and water filters. The corner of the new multi-purpose field incorporates a Baseball Practice Field as well with AstroTurf’s Diamond Series and GreenPlay infill. The two systems come together seamlessly at the baseball’s infield. Both synthetic turf systems are buttressed by a Brock pad for increased shock absorbency. Mira Costa West Field enjoys a two-tone color palette and is lined for use by football, soccer, lacrosse, baseball, softball, rugby, discus, and marching band.
“The field is amazing – it’s been everything we researched and hoped it would be and then some. Ever since Eric and I visited the headquarters in Dalton, Georgia, we’ve been impressed with their commitment to quality and excellence. My follow-up visit to inspect our materials during fabrication only supported this belief as they walked me through many quality control measures and check-points.” – Johnnie C. Morgan, founder of Coastline Construction Management, Project Manager, and Turf Consultant for the MB/X Foundation, a foundation that supports Manhattan Beach Unified School District, with their growing motto “Beyond the Classroom.”
Of course the “Eric” he is referring to is none other than Dodger legend and current Fox MLB analyst Eric Karros. The 1992 National League Rookie of the Year and LA’s all-time home run king has been an integral part of the athletic renovations at Mira Costa High School, whose hallways have been occupied at various times by his three children. The resurfaced baseball field is now one of the premier high school baseball facilities in Southern California.
“I’m blown away by the state of synthetic turf today, specifically the innovative systems that AstroTurf has developed,” said Karros. “Touring the plant in Dalton and speaking to their people gave me an insight into the level of expertise that goes into the engineering of their products. It’s light years beyond the stuff I used to play on.”
Carl Osterhaus Field, where the Mustangs play their home games, has been transformed into a state-of-the-art baseball field with over 17,000 square feet of AstroTurf’s Diamond Series synthetic turf system. Like the West Field baseball practice field, the Diamond Series at the Varsity Main Playing Field is specifically designed to emulate the look and feel of traditional baseball surfaces with specialized turf that replicates the performance of natural grass and clay. Mira Costa’s new baseball field includes 100% EPDM infill, an organic infill product that mitigates the use of traditional crumb rubber.
Both the baseball field and Mira Costa West Field were installed by AFE Sports, AstroTurf’s West Coast partner. AFE also handled the base construction and main drainage for the fields. Award-winning construction management firm Bernards managed the site work (retaining walls, new fire road, and expanded field) portion of the West Field project as general contractor.
Coastline Construction Management and MBX worked in unison with the School District over a 7 year period to pull-off this unique endeavor. Coastline CM with MBX designed the West Field effort, funded the turf and main drainage components, and managed the entire renovation. Johnnie further quoted “We are extremely proud and pleased with our assembled Team; Prizm Group (Civil Engineer), Burch Architects, Bernards, and AFE our Turf Contractor of choice. AFE’s team is a top notch organization and we are extremely proud of our shared results!”
About AstroTurf®
For athletes and sport enthusiasts, AstroTurf® has redefined the way the game is played. The brand offers advanced, state-of-the-art, multi-sport and specialized synthetic turf systems with proprietary engineered technologies. A growing number of high schools, colleges, professional sports teams and municipalities continue to select AstroTurf-branded products for their premium quality, technical superiority, and safety. To learn more, visit AstroTurf’s newly redesigned website at www.astroturf.com.