Lush new turf has begun to be laid at Napier's McLean Park, giving a small taster of what sports fans can expect when the $4.9 million stadium re-turfing project is complete.
The project included excavating the oval to a depth of 45cm and hundreds of truckloads were brought in and out as soil was taken to be laid on the foreshore reserve beside State Highway 2 between Napier and Awatoto and 5000cu m of sand was moved in from outside Hawke's Bay and blended onsite during the laying of the new drainage.
A total of 3000 truckloads will go in and out of the gates before the completion of the project by Australian company HG Sports Turf, which also turfed the MCG in Melbourne, the ANZ Stadium in Sydney, and Wellington Regional Stadium (Westpac Stadium).
Work is expected to be finished before the ground's next sporting fixture - a Mitre 10 Cup rugby match on September 2.
A post on the Hawke's Bay Magpies Facebook page showed a photo of the new grass, pointing out it coincided with tickets for the stadium's first match going on sale Monday.
