Chilliwack Parks, Recreation & Culture
WINTER/SPRING 2014 CHILLIWACK LEISURE GUIDE
7
Exhibition Artificial
Turf Field
Parks
To accommodate the future need of
sports fields in our growing community,
the Exhibition Field and Grandstands
were upgraded into a high-end artificial
turf facility this year. The construction
began in June 2013 and was completed
in September. The Grand Opening took
place on October 19 and was attended
by many people in the community.
The updates for the Exhibition grounds
include a large all-weather game field
with CFL, American Football, and soccer
lines to accommodate many sports
groups, a practice turf field the size of
half a field located north of the game
field thanks to a generous donation from
the Chilliwack FC, as well as a warm-
up area west of the game field that
was donated by AstroTurf Canada, the
company that supplied and installed the
turf. The upgrade to the Grandstands and
washrooms included heat installation in
the washrooms so they could be used all
year long, as well as insulation and railing
installation in the Grandstands.
The new artificial turf field has some
appealing features including;
• supports 6x more playing time than
grass fields,
• no resting periods necessary,
• no closures due to weather unless there
is standing snow on the field,
• maintenance costs are similar to
premier grass fields,
• able to lessen environmental impact by
using recycled tires as part of the infill
material thanks to funding from the Tire
Stewardship of BC, and lastly,
• more hours of play will give the grass
fields a rest.
The new field has been kept busy since
it opened with weeknight soccer and
football, soccer games all day Saturday
including mini-ball games that are able
to be held 4 at a time on the new field,
and various games for both youth and
adult groups throughout the weekend.
There has also been some special events
hosted at the new Exhibition Grounds
including a Homecoming Game for G.W.
Graham’s football team held on October
11 that drew in a large crowd as well as
UFV Cascades Men’s and Women’s
Soccer games.
Comparing Exhibition’s field usage from
last season to this season (August-
March), the field has already gone from
384 hours of play last year, to 1273 hours
of play plus 205 hours of ½ field bookings
this year. That means the field usage has
increased almost 4x since it has been
upgraded to turf.
