Fannon Field

Workers install the new logo on Fannon Field. The final stages begin this week.

With only days remaining in the final phase of installation, the new Fannon Field already sparkles with the new carpet, sporting bright white football lines and the greenest grass in Alexandria, according to Bishop Ireton’s athletic director, Bill Simmons. “I am really excited for our athletes and school community to get on this new field. You get an idea how worn our old field was the moment you step into the field area and survey the new turf.”

After months of work by the School’s Board of Govenors, Head of School, Dr. Tom Curry, and the Diocese of Arlington, construction kicked off on May 28th with the demolition of the 11-year old AstroPlay 2000 artificial turf and underlying padding. The drainage remained intact, workers added stone and laser-graded the sub base to the specifications required for the new FieldTurf Revolution, a 2.25 inch synthetic fiber, anchored with sand and crumb rubber infill.

Removal of the old turf moved quickly despite a spring rain and the base work was completed within a week. Soon rolls of new field arrived and crews begin working as many as 14 hours a day to complete the installation. The center of the field was laid, followed by 5-yard swaths of green bordered by a 4-inch white yard line. Once the field expanded to the football goal lines, new cardinal red end zones were installed, followed by the long rolls of sideline on the north and south sides of the field. Finally the areas behind the football goal posts were laid. Then the detailed work began.

Using shears, much like a barber, technicians began to shear away the green fibers where golden soccer lines, scarlet red girls’ lacrosse lines, navy blue boys’ lax lines, and field hockey markings were to be inlaid. Stencils outlined the football yard lines and each hashmark on the football field was painstaking sheared out and white hashes glued into the carpet.

The biggest installation challenges, however, were the new center logo featuring the School’s athletic logo, and the golden lettering in each end zone were carefully laid out and cut into the field, meticulously measured, sheared, and glued into place. As the crew, swelling to as many as 20 workers on some days, battled heat and humidity some days, showers on others, labored to complete the inlays, the delivery of sand and crumb rubber signaled the impending start of the final phase, the in fill process.

When all the inlays are completed, crews will use large sweepers to brush the 2.25 inch fibers upright and begin infilling the carpet with a sand base to anchor the turf in place. Once the base is established, a crumb rubber and sand mix will provide the firm, fast surface that will cushion the athletes while giving them a world class surface to play on.

“This is going to fun for everyone, I think our community will be proud of Fannon Field. The installers are excited about how great it looks, and we know it’s going to be a hit with our athletes and physical education students.” offered the Cardinals’ athletic director. Weather will impact the final completion date, but School officials hope to see the girls lacrosse camp and football clinic to be on the new grass before the end of the week of June 23rd, less than a month from when workers broke ground.