The city of Wiesbaden has been turning threshing floors into artificial pitches since 1987.
Correspondingly, news items from Wiesbaden from the last few years stated the following: “Following the resolution of the Sports Facilities Commission, the Niederfeld playing field is not actually to be tackled until 2014/2015. Via the infrastructure programme of the State of Hessen, it was possible for the sports field in Klarenthal to be able to be rebuilt in 2010. According to the sequence specified by the Sports Facilities Commission, the new construction of the Niederfeld artificial pitch can now take place,” states Mayor and Sports Administrator Dr. Helmut Müller at a building site visit. The field is available to FC Freudenberg and Türkischer SV, and also has adequate conditions of play for the Verbandsliga (district league), as well as the other Wiesbaden football teams. In addition, the new artificial pitch plays an important role for the youth work of the clubs. The project will cost about a million Euros. The threshing floor used up to now was not suitable for the direct installation of the synthetic turf flooring.”
In Wiesbaden they are moving swiftly on with the systematic transformation of dusty cinder fields into attractive artificial turf playing fields. In the meantime – supported by the stimulus programme and with the help of saved budget funds – already considerably earlier than planned (originally not until 2018/19), the last hard pitch in the Delkenheim district on the list of priorities can be adapted at the beginning of 2012. Around 900,000 EUR per location is currently planned.
Subsequently, there are 21 of these attractive playing fields in Wiesbaden: Nineteen urban ones and two for clubs. Subject to the available budget funds, it will continue with the other facilities on a bi-annual basis. With each double budget, there should be a new artificial pitch so that within the next ten to fifteen years Wiesbaden will be cinder-free.
The stimulus programme brought about an additional “drive” with the faster implementation time. Therefore, at the end of August 2010 the Klarenthal sports field obtained the much sought-after artificial turf from the local club much earlier than expected. Just shortly before completion, the work to the transformed “Niederfeld” sports pitch in the Dotzheim district was done within less than three months.
At the end of June/beginning of July 2011, a further project, the reconstruction of the Naurod sports field, will start and will also be handed over to the club much earlier than planned. The previously-mentioned hard pitch in Delkenheim will constitute the completion of the first series at the beginning of 2012.
The artificial pitches will be developed according to a list which has been compiled by the Sports Facilities Commission. Decisive factors are the technical condition of the playing fields and the activities that are played on them. Clubs with strong, effective youth work benefit from this assessment. Consequently, the city of Wiesbaden processes the priority list step-by-step.
Artificial pitches offer a high level of absorbent playing comfort, are easier on the joints and body for sport people playing on it, lead to fewer injuries and are practical in that they can be used for training all-year round. However, it is important that the pitches are given the necessary and, sometimes, expensive care, in order to guarantee a long life span. Here the town is also in increased contact with the clubs, regarding how voluntary groundskeepers can work together with the city’s specialised employees in order to look after the high-quality facilities.
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