A local turf provider will supply the playing surface for the new North Queensland Stadium, which is currently being built in Australia’s Townsville.
Fortini Turf, a family-owned turf farm in Gumlow, is growing over 118,000ft2 (11,000m2) of stabilized grass in a single plot located nearby to the Cox designed, 25,000-seat multi-purpose stadium. Being the first time the company has supplied stadium turf it will employ new methods and processes and has enlisted the help of specialists HG Sports Turf for expert guidance.
“Growing the turf for the North Queensland Stadium, under the expert guidance of HG Sports Turf, means our team is learning new technology that is being applied in North Queensland for the first time,” said Fabia Fortini, owner of Fortini Turf.
“Our business is proud to be partnering with the government and the Cowboys to deliver a quality stadium for Townsville.”
A patented system, developed by HG Sports Turf, combines natural grass as the playing surface with an underlying mesh of artificial fibers to create a vertically and horizontally stable turf that’s delivered in a ready-to-play state, when the venue opens in 2020.
“HG Sports Turf has successfully delivered stadia playing surfaces, using our proprietary hybrid turf systems for over 20 years both here in Australia and globally and in some of the world’s most iconic stadiums,” said Erik Kinlon, general manager of HG Sports Turf.
“We will be working closely with the team at Fortini Turf to ensure everything from the irrigation and fertilizer through to the harvesting, transport and installation is to international standards.”
The chosen grass – Greenlees Park Couch – is a hard-wearing semi-dwarf couch, with a deep root system and aggressive surface growth making it ideal for North Queensland conditions.
“It’s not just elite sports that will benefit from the new Stadium, the unique turf means all sorts of events and organizations will be able to use this space, benefiting our whole community,” said Townsville Mayor Jenny Hill.
