Rochester Rhinos Stadium Upgrades FieldTurf, Reuses Existing Infill

Rochester Rhinos Stadium is among the latest facility to reuse infill material from its previous FieldTurf surface to its new FieldTurf field. The Rochester Rhinos, defending United Soccer League champions, required a new surface to replace their current 10+ year old field.

That new field will feature FieldTurf’s signature system: Revolution 360, FieldTurf’s latest monofilament fiber and the industry’s most complete fiber.

This next generation of synthetic turf also involves the reuse of perfectly playable infill materials. The existing infill is screened to remove fine particles such as dust or dirt, as well as trash, stones, gum and other foreign substances, before being reincorporated it into the new surface.

The recycling of infill typically will reuse about 90 percent of the weight of the turf surface. The remaining 10 percent (mostly carpet and remnant infill) can be landfilled. From a LEED perspective, 90 percent reuse is an outstanding number.

FieldTurf offers expertise in reusing infill on several projects and boasts the technology and personnel to seamlessly transfer material from the old field to the new one — providing significant cost savings to facility operators and an ecological solution to field replacement.

The Rochester Rhinos’ original surface was installed when the facility (known until last October as Sahlen’s Stadium) opened in 2006.

The project was completed in collaboration with Chenango Contracting, FieldTurf’s upstate New York distributor and partner. Together, FieldTurf and Chenango have installed numerous showcase facilities such as Notre Dame Stadium, the Carrier Dome, TCF Bank Stadium, Michie Stadium and now, Rochester Rhinos Stadium.

Named after the concept of completeness, Revolution 360 is the industry’s first fiber to have achieved a score of 83 on the Fiber Performance Index (FPI). Recently introduced to the marketplace by Labosport – a leading laboratory dedicated to sports surfaces and equipment – as part of the latest addition to its Certification Program, Labosport’s FPI establishes the ultimate fiber ‘index’ – the rating of an artificial turf fiber, to help prospective turf buyers understand and weigh the individual qualities of a turf fiber.

The newly launched fiber has taken the industry be storm and is quickly becoming the most popular surface in North America. Rochester Rhinos Stadium will join an impressive list of users, of which features CenturyLink Field, the home of the Seahawks and Sounders, Princeton University, Toledo University and University of Texas at El Paso to name a few.

Revolution 360 is also the industry’s first fiber to withstand 30,000 Lisport cycles without showing any signs of wear, as shown in the latest results from a Lisport wear test conducted at Penn State’s Center for Sports Surface Research. See the study Here.

“Everybody absolutely loves it and feels that the field offers a better type of play,” said Pat Ercoli, chief soccer officer for the Rochester Rhinos, a team hoping to win its second straight USL championship on the new turf this season.

“Grooming the field is easier than ever”, Ercoli adds, “and opposing teams — many of which play in converted baseball stadiums or on grass soccer fields — look forward to visiting Rochester Rhinos Stadium.”

The facility also is home to the Western New York Flash of the National Women’s Soccer League, as well as area lacrosse teams, high school football teams and college training camps.