Memorial Park turf war laid to rest

ROLLING OUT: Polytan contractor Ted Smith pulls away after unrolling the final length of artificial turf at Memorial Park.

The last roll of artificial turf at Memorial Park might have gone down without ceremony yesterday, but it was a big moment for Wairarapa Bush chief executive Tony Hargood.

Mr Hargood has been calling into Memorial Park most days as the turf is rolled out, and he was almost emotional while describing the "dream" nearing completion in front of him.

Yesterday, he wandered on to the turf to get a close look as contractors from Polytan rolled out the final section at the south end.

The turf ended up slightly short at one end, so the contractors shook it like a rug, putting air under it and lining it into place.

In front of them, one of four floodlights was being strapped to two cranes in preparation for raising and being placed at the southern corner.

Mr Hargood said the floodlight installation should be completed today.

"We've had people after people coming in to watch," he said.

"We'll have two weeks of commissioning [the lights], the turf is due to be laid by Easter."

Sand is then laid within the turf for additional cushioning.

"There will be International Rugby Board testing, that takes about a week, then she's all go."

He said the ground was booked solidly for games.

The first big drawcard on the revamped $2.1 million Memorial Park ground will be a Hurricanes versus Chiefs development rugby clash on Thursday, April 30. He said football games were likely to take place earlier.