City of Long Beach
333 W. Ocean Blvd,
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEPress Release # CM:111617B
Seaside Park Artificial Turf Sports Field Grand Opening Ceremony Scheduled for November 18
Jane Grobaty, Community Information Officer
Department of Parks, Recreation & Marine
Jane.Grobarty@longbeach.gov
The public is invited to attend the Seaside Park Artificial Turf Sports Field grand opening ceremony on Saturday, November 18, 2017 at 11:00 a.m., located at 1401 Chestnut Ave.
"I've been excited for this project since I was on the City Council representing the area," said Mayor Robert Garcia. "I can't wait to see all the kids and families play soccer and enjoy the field and open space."
The Seaside Park Project converted approximately 0.4 acres of an existing unsafe dirt sports field to synthetic turf. The new turf field uses a natural, renewable blend of cork and sand infill that is produced to be resilient with good heat dissipating properties, and does not require hydration outside of cleaning. The field is expected to be functional between eight and 13 years.
"This artificial turf field will help meet the needs of the community," said Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez. "There is a constant demand for playing locations and the enhanced quality of this field will provide for more hours of play and improved playing conditions."
This conversion provides many benefits including:
Reducing water use to help meet the State's water reduction mandate.
Providing a more durable, consistent and safe playing surface.
Increasing playable hours by eliminating field closure for sod replacement or rain events.
Reducing field maintenance costs because there is no need to reseed, re-sod of aerate.
The total field conversion cost was approximately $1.7 million. This project was made possible using First Council District FY 14 one-time infrastructure funds, Community Development Block Grant funds, and a $600,000 grant awarded by the California Youth Soccer and Recreation Development Grant Program, offered by the State of California Department of Parks and Recreation, Office of Grants and Local Services.
Teams from the Deportivo Miguel Hidalgo and Cesar Chavez Youth Soccer Leagues will play an exhibition game following the ribbon cutting ceremony.
For more information regarding the event, please call Gladys Kaiser, Manager of Community Recreation Services, at (562) 570-3150.
About Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine
The Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine Department (PRM) is one of the premier parks and recreation departments in the country, is consistently recognized for excellence in management practices and programs, and has received the national Gold Medal Award four times. PRM operates 170 parks with 26 community centers; two major tennis centers; an animal shelter; one of the busiest municipal golf systems in the country with five courses; and the largest municipally operated marina system in the nation with over 3,200 boat slips. More than 3,200 acres are developed for recreation. The Department offers approximately 2,400 contract classes (fitness, health, enrichment) to people of all ages (newborn to senior) every year; after-school programs at 26 sites during the school year; and summer programs for youth 5-12 years old. Other unique sites include multiple community gardens, a municipal cemetery, more than 38 miles of bike trails, 10 dog parks, and eight skate parks.
For more information about Long Beach Parks, Recreation and Marine programs and services, visit www.lbparks.org. Please "Like" us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter @LongBeachParks.
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