NHL, Red Wings to pay for replacement Tigers field at Comerica

NATHAN SKID / Crain's Detroit Business

New Kentucky bluegrass will be installed this month at Comerica Park in the first full-field sod replacement at the ballpark since 2007.

The National Hockey League, along with the Detroit Red Wings and Olympia Entertainment, are splitting the cost of the new grass field that will be installed at Comerica Park in time for the Detroit Tigers season opener on March 31.

The cost and how it's being apportioned among the three entities hasn't been disclosed. Olympia is the entertainment management arm of the Ilitch family's business holdings, which include the Wings and Tigers.

New natural grass fields at major league ballparks range in price from $100,000 to $250,000, turf industry insiders say.

The contract for the 103,000 square feet of Kentucky bluegrass, which will be the first full-field replacement at the 15-year-old ballpark since 2007, was awarded to Fort Morgan, Colo.-based Graff's Turf Farm.

The NHL agreed to pick up costs at Comerica Park as part of the deal it swung with Red Wings and Tigers owner Mike Ilitch to host its Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium instead of Comerica Park.

At a cost of up to $1 million, the NHL paid Kitty Hawk, N.C.-based Rink Specialists Inc. to build a temporary ice rink on Comerica Park's infield for the Hockeytown Winter Festival games at the end of December.

The Winter Festival was the downtown Detroit portion of the Winter Classic, which was played at Michigan Stadium between the Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs.

For the Winter Festival, all of the Comerica Park grass was removed. A woven barrier was put over the bare dirt to protect it until the sod is installed once the snow clears. The ice rink was removed last month.

Original post:
NHL, Red Wings to pay for replacement Tigers field at Comerica