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Wednesday, June 21, 2000
Nineteen fields mean plenty of
By Al Chase
space for soccer teams
to kick around
Star-BulletinWaipio Peninsula's fields of dreams are nearly ready.
All 19 soccer fields, including the main stadium, have been seeded and reseeded.
Green grass flourishes.
The construction of Phase I of the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Park is right on schedule.
"The timing on that couldn't be better," said Art Lambert, project manager for Goodfellow Bros. Inc. "The next two months are the best growing time of the year with the amount of sunlight you have every day."
The stadium field, 120-yards long by 80 yards wide, was seeded May 25, then seeded a second time last Thursday.
The stadium field has a six-inch sand cap with the top two inches mixed with local soil. This is to facilitate drainage.
The grass planted is Tifway 419 Bermuda, used on a number of golf course in Hawaii.
The other 18 fields have had an inch of ground tire rubber mulch and an inch of organic compost tilled in to a depth of eight inches.
This aids in drainage and the softness of the fields.
Automated sprinklers with pop up heads are in on all 19 fields.
"There will be three fields ready when we open. The rest will be opened in phases," said Manny Menendez, executive director of the City and County of Honolulu's office of economic development.
The pouring of concrete for the bleachers on the mauka side of the stadium has begun.
Lambert estimates work to be 40 percent complete on the bleachers and the two buildings at the stadium entrance.
The buildings will house locker rooms, concessions, ticket booths, the first aid room, office space and storage rooms.
The stadium seating capacity, initially projected at 4,000, will be closer to 2,500 when the facility opens Aug. 25 for a women's soccer match between Boise State and the University of Hawaii.
The difference is due to the funding available for the bleachers when the project began.
Long-range plans, as need dictates, calls for seating capacity to expand to 18,000.
The stadium lights will be appropriate for televising matches.
The light poles will be behind the earthen berms the bleachers rest on, giving spectators a clear view of the action on the field.
Two other fields right next to the stadium will also be lighted.
There are two parking lots in this phase. One is adjacent to the stadium. The other is a short walk away, but located between two pods of six and eight fields, convenient for tournaments.
It's doubtful rain will cause problems often.
"The precipitation charts show less than 15 inches a year here," Lambert said.
There is a five-million gallon water storage facility that will serve the park, the Ted Makalena Golf Course and the Navy's diversified agriculture program.
Phase I uses 140 of the approximately 300 acres available at the site.
