When most Penn students make the walk to Franklin Field to watch a football, lacrosse or field hockey game, they may not be fully aware of its historical significance.
Besides having its sidelines paced by star actor Bruce Willis in the movie Unbreakable, Franklin Field is the oldest football stadium and featured the first scoreboard, the first football telecast and the first and only playoff loss by legendary coach Vince Lombardi.
But now, the stadium that first opened in 1895 for the Penn Relays is set to undergo a major change.
After a long decision process, renovations to replace the Astroturf on Franklin Field have begun and are planned to continue throughout the summer until mid july.
The renovations will include the replacement of the old nylon Astroturf with a variation of Sprinturf, a state-of-the-art infill system comprised of a rubber and sand mixture.
The Sprinturf "is what's going in on all of the new installments," said Dave Bryan, director of Facilities and Operations for the Penn Athletic Department. "It is softer, more user-friendly and it is more replicated to real grass."
The upgrade to Sprinturf is a more modern upgrade for the nation's first two-tiered stadium.
Astroturf has covered the playing surface at Franklin Field since 1970, with its fifth carpet installed in 1993. After 10 years, Bryan and other Penn Athletics officials knew it was time for a change.
"The old turf was at the end of its useful life, we even got a couple of extra years out of it," Bryan said. "We realized it was time for an upgrade, and we wanted to provide a better playing surface for our athletes."
Bryan also said that the new turf provides a surface that will reduce the risk of injuries, especially with football players.
"The new surface is great because ... less injuries occur on it," Bryan said. "It provides an extra cushion that is very close to grass in that respect."
Because of its consequences on playing conditions for a variety of sports, the turf was only decided upon after a series of committee meetings set up by Penn Athletics.
The committee included Bryan, the associate athletic directors, members of the Facilities Department and coaches from Penn's lacrosse, football and field hockey teams, all of which play their home games on Franklin Field.
"We considered everybody's input, and we narrowed it down to three candidates before making the final choice,"Bryan said. "We wanted to make sure everyone who would be impacted by the change had a voice in the decision-making process."
Although the renovations began two weeks ago, Bryan expects the new surface to be installed by the end of the summer, in time for the fall 2004 season. The first teams to use the field will be the football and field hockey teams, which start practices in August.
"I think any new field will be a bit different in terms of style of play," Penn field hockey coach Val Cloud said before the new field was selected. "But our girls are used to playing on fields of grass, so we're used to the ball playing slower anyway."
While no other renovations will be made to Franklin Field this summer, Bryan expects that other athletic venues will experience several more changes over the next few years, as Penn acquires the new postal lands that are expected to be developed into additional sports facilities.
"We are really looking forward to the completed project," Bryan said. "It's a really exciting time for our programs."
