National Sports Center Introduces New “Green” Irrigation System for Stadium Field
Using existing pond water instead of city water will save NSC $20,000.00 a year.
Brandon Radeke, Operations Manager of NSC operates a sprinkler system
The grass at the National Sports Center wasn’t looking too good last Friday, April 24th, but Brandon Radeke, operations manager at the National Sport Center said he thought the grass would be looking fine by Saturday evening, May 2, when the Minnesota Thunder host last years USL Champion, Vancouver Whitecaps, at 7:05 p.m. for their home opener.
Radeke was operating a manual sprinkling system, trying to green up the new portion of the field that was added last June as part of the National Sports Centers stadium remodeling project. Radeke said, “We’re getting off of city water and getting onto our pond system.” The pond system Radeke was speaking of can be seen in the back parking lot of the National Sports Center offices and indoor facility. Radeke stated, “We already run most of the our facility off of that pond.” He went on to explain that the cost savings for the NSC will be about $20,000.00 a year and the method is greener and more ecological.
Water trickles down a trench that awaits irrigation pipes
Currently NSC has trenched out a line that runs along the North end of the exhibition field all the way to the stadium. The trench was dug but Radeke said they were still waiting for the pipe to be laid and hooked up to the stadium underground irrigation system.
In the mean time, Radeke will keep moving the sprinkler and checking on the field. The grass was already looking greener in the South end of the field where the sprinkler had been running for about an hour and with the rain this past weekend, chances were that the field will be looking green for Saturday’s game.
Trench dug around exhibition field
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This is a splendid idea.
When I was at NSC last night, the trench was closed up meaning the pipe had been installed, and the grass was much greener. Still not perfect, but not bad. It’s supposed to rain the next couple of days so by Saturday things will be greened up and if it doesn’t rain, I expect the new ecologically friendly irrigation system will be put into use.