St. Louis' new stadium gets new grass

ST. LOUIS -- The St. Louis Cardinals hope the grass is greener on the other side.

Growing grass isn't as easy as it seems in St. Louis, with its brutal summer heat and humidity. The Cardinals discovered that fact after ripping out the faded artificial turf of the old Busch Stadium in 1996. For years, the grass suffered from bald spots and raggedy brown patches.

The weather wasn't the lone culprit. The ballpark itself was partly to blame. Its height caused shadows over much of the outfield, and it was fully enclosed on the sides, limiting air circulation.

"At the old stadium, the humidity was so great and there was no wind movement," said Roger Bossard, the head groundskeeper for the Chicago White Sox who installed the grass at the old Busch and is overseeing the project at the new one. "Wind movement, wind circulation, is the key to growing grass."

On Wednesday, workers began laying Kentucky bluegrass for the new Busch. The work comes less than three weeks before the first game in the $400 million stadium -- an exhibition contest between the Cardinals' top two minor-league teams, Class AAA Memphis and Class AA Springfield, on April 4.

The first real game is April 10, the defending National League Central champions' home opener against Milwaukee.

By midday Wednesday, the infield was already a picture-perfect blue-green, with outfield work to follow.

Joe Abernathy, the Cardinals' vice president of operations, shielded his eyes and pointed to an outfield fully bathing in the sun's rays. Unlike the old Busch, the new stadium has an open plaza beyond the outfield walls, allowing in the sun and wind.

"In the old stadium, right field was a constant problem for us with the shadows," Abernathy said. "We think with the sunshine and the ventilation in this stadium, the grass will have a better chance of surviving."

The 107,000 square feet of sod -- roughly enough for 40 residential properties -- is being placed on nine inches of sand that sits on four inches of peat gravel.

Beneath the ground is a system that can remove gases harmful to the grass. Meanwhile, a unique sprinkler system can cool water to 41 degrees. Just a few minutes of sprinkling in the dog days of July and August can reduce the grass temperature by up to 14 degrees, improving its durability, said Bossard, who has overseen installation of turf at nine of the last 12 major league stadiums built.

Bossard had the bluegrass grown at sites near Kankakee, Ill., Sommerset, N.J., and Aurora, Colo. Because of bad weather in Illinois and New Jersey, he used only the grass grown in Colorado. Earlier this week, the inch-and-a-quarter-thick sod was trucked to St. Louis.

Bluegrass can sometimes wilt in the heat of a Midwestern summer, but Bossard said this particular blend, combined with the measures taken at the stadium, will hold up much better than the Bermuda grass at the old stadium.

And because of the depth of the sand and the drainage system at the new Busch, "they'll never have a rainout," Bossard said. "They will be able to get a 1-inch microburst of rain and play 20 minutes later."

Workers continue to ready the stadium for its opening. Abernathy estimated it is more than 90 percent complete except for the section in left field that won't be ready until midseason.

"Now it's going to be, as with any project of this size, a hurried dash to the finish," Abernathy said.