New Field at Pro Player is Best Ever

DAVIE, Fla. - Even before the rain, the groundskeepers at Pro Player Stadium knew this was going to be a crazy week.

They had only six days after the Marlins season finale to rip out the field and lay down 70,000 square feet of new grass - transported from a turf farm in Avon Park -- in time for the Dolphins game against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

Then it started to rain Monday. And it kept raining for 30 hours. By Tuesday night, nearly 14 inches had fallen, leaving the field looking like it would need swimming lap markers, not yard lines.

By Wednesday afternoon though -- thanks to a $1 million drainage system and more than 30 workers sharing shifts that went around the clock - the transformation was on track.

"We'll take all the rain you want and we'll be high and dry," boasted Alan Sigwardt, director of grounds and engineering. "It's going to look outstanding. ... Even with all the storms, it's going to be our best ever."

The rain also tested the Dolphins practice facility in Davie. The two fields are equipped with Prescription Athletic Turf - a drainage system that included underground pipes every 11 feet and two pumps that push water into a vault, then to a nearby canal.

"It can pump 90,000 gallons per hour," said Casey Gifford, head groundskeeper for the facility. "What's amazing is that sometimes that's not enough."

This appeared to be one of those times. Gifford estimates that about 19 inches of rain fell on the fields Monday and Tuesday. And, as of Tuesday night, they were under about four inches of standing water. But preparation and the high-tech drainage system paid off.

"Those pumps probably ran all night," Gifford said. "When I came in at 5 a.m., they were off and the field was bone dry."

The grounds crew frantically began planting the field - a task usually done before Tuesday -- and had it ready for n 11 a.m. practice.

"We were done about 10:58," Gifford said with a laugh.

Dolphins coach Dave Wannstedt had planned to hold practice at the Broward County Convention Center. He was pleasantly surprised that the field was ready - but disappointed that his players were not.

"That was probably the best part of the day É the grounds crew, because we didn't practice today like we need to, Wannstedt said.