We thought that the 2008 referendum gave a clear message not to upgrade Robron Park to artificial turf.
Walking through the park almost daily and not to see any kids playing there, except on the weekends, that investment would be insane. Artificial grass is unhealthy and unsafe, specialy to young players and ridiculously expensive to maintain.
Many people, including some professional soccer players, have spoken out against the use of artificial grass.
In 2007, soccer celebrity David Beckham refused to play against Toronto FC at Toronto’s home stadium, BMO Field, because of its artificial turf.
Calculated at a yearly maintenance cost of around $14,000 for a natural grass field in a university stadium, the cost of upkeep for an artificial turf was almost $23,000.
Councilors, please look at this issue from many angles before you let it happen.
On another subject, on our daily walk through the park, we saw peope playing lacrosse maybe twice - playing on the grass, not in the newly built “monster”. And what about those unnecessary (and probably expensive) american football goals replacing regular soccer goals? We had never seen any teams using them.
Z. Piska