Oakland High to be one of the first to get new artificial turf, known for its 'durability'

The ground has been broken and crews have been working on renovating Oakland High School's football field to install artificial turf.

The project is on pace to be completed by Oakland's first home football game Aug. 30.

But what kind of turf will the Patriots be playing on once the project is complete?

Shaw Sports Turf's Legion NXT turf is what will be installed in Ray Hughes Stadium.

The Legion NXT boasts "ThunderBolt Fiber," which the company says is known for its "unmatched durability." The company's web site said the turf shows "minimal signs of wear up through 80,000 cycles (32 years of heavy use)."

"Shaw Sports Turf is excited to be part of this project," said Chuck McClurg, Vice President for Shaw Turf. "Our new Legion NXT system featuring ThunderBolt Fiber is one of the most impressive that we've seen in terms of durability and wear testing.

"This turf system will stand up to next level play, making it a great choice for Oakland High School."

Legion NXT is the newest of the Shaw Sports Turf catalog, following the original Legion brand. Oakland will be one of first schools in the country to have the new brand installed, said Lou Warner, president and founder of Smyrna-based Warner's Athletic Construction Co.

Shaw's original Legion turf was installed at MTSU in 2014. That same turf is also used at Vanderbilt's Dudley Field and all 13 Knox County public schools (which were funded by a donation from the Haslam family/Pilot/Pilot Flying J).

"What sold us on it is that it's a superior product that we feel will last the life of the field, and even give us an extended (life)," Oakland principal John Marshall said. "Durability is important. It's not cheap to replace. We need all the life we can get out of it."

The project will cost Oakland around $607,000, all of which the school has raised through donations and sponsorships.

Warner's Athletic Construction Co. is handling the project from early prep work that began more than a week ago to the turf installation, collaborating with Shaw Sports Turf.

That collaboration allowed for a much more affordable project for Oakland.

Warner said his group is working with Shaw on several area artificial turf projects, including youth baseball fields at Cedar Stone Park in Smyrna and the football field at Friendship Christian School.

Friendship Christian will be using the original Legion turf.

"All of the projects that we do, we've chosen (Shaw) as our partner, and they've chosen us," said Warner, who added that 100 percent of the Oakland project contract will go through his company.

The Rutherford County School Board gave Oakland permission to begin the project during a June 20 meeting and base work began early the following week.

Marshall said so far so good on the planned timetable and expects that under ideal conditions the installation will be complete by mid-to-late August.

"There's been nothing to slow down the process or take away from the projected schedule," said Marshall. "It's about six weeks, without major impacts by the weather."

Warner said next week his team will begin excavating Oakland's field, which has already had grass stripped.

Blackman High completed its artificial turf installation in early April. Blackman installed AstroTurf's "Gameday 3D Trionic Fiber."

Oakland will play host to several sporting events a week throughout most of the school year, including high school, middle school and youth football and also high school soccer.

Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@dnj.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.