With the London Stadium hosting one of the most iconic sporting matches between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox the venue transformation was completed on time by a team of specialists from Field Turf, S&C Slatter and partners. The project involved turning the normal football stadium pitch and surround into a Baseball diamond working around the clock to ensure it was ready for the arrival of the teams to practice before their two-match series over the weekend of the 29-30 June 2019.
The complex construction involved installing a base panel system to protect the natural turf field and then a dynamic stone base. The performance surface chosen for the infield and outfield was nearly 15,000 square metres of FieldTurf Vertex Prime which is a durable slit-film fibre combined with revolutionary ridged monofilament fibre designed to outperform any other fibres.
The result is a turf product that offers FieldTurf’s patented three-layer infill system with two distinct types of fibres – providing for a natural look, excellent ball performance system for baseball. The Diamond itself was constructed from 345 tons of Pennsylvania dirt providing the distinctive look to any world class Baseball pitch. While the construction took approximately 20 days, dismantling and uplift took only two days in time for the next conversion of the London Stadium for the Anniversary Games in July.
Paul Fraser, Regional Business Director at Tarkett Sports said: “This unique and prestigious project required first class provision from all teams involved. From start to finish the project was under the tightest timescales for the installation and removal, but the professionalism carried out by all partners meant it was delivered to the high playing standards MLB is renowned for. The top of the range Vertex Prime Fieldturf surface provided an exciting playing surface with a record number of runs. We’re looking forward to being involved again next year with this world class facility.”
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