Sod Firm Gets 1st Inside Job

Camarillo-based Pacific Sod, which is one of the largest producers of pre-grown lawns in the United States, has received a contract to create what the company describes as the world’s first indoor grass athletic field.

Pacific Sod will install 120,000 square feet of its grass in Michigan’s Silverdome this spring, reports Pacific Sod co-owner Richard Rogers.

Using a method devised at Michigan State University, crews will install 5-foot-long hexagonal sections of the sod in the stadium at Pontiac, near Detroit. The sod, which is six inches deep, will be mounted on steel trays that will be suspended three inches above the Silverdome’s concrete floor, Rogers said.

Transforming a field that previously was artificial turf, the sod will be used for an international soccer match June 19. It will then be trucked outdoors, where it will be watered and stored until needed again. Indoors, the grass would survive for only a short time, Rogers noted.

Even though Pacific Sod provides turf for the Rose Bowl, the Los Angeles Coliseum and other large arenas, such business accounts for only a minor part of the firm’s revenues. Mostly, the sod is used for homes, commercial building projects, government facilities and golf courses.

However, if the Detroit project is a success, Rogers believes it could lead his company in an important new direction.

The 1994 World’s Cup soccer tournament will take place in the United States. “Several cities that will be bidding for the matches have domed stadiums with artificial turf. International soccer officials wouldn’t dream of allowing the game to be played on anything but natural grass,” Rogers said.

In addition, he said, representatives of the National Football League Players Assn. have expressed interest in having sod replace artificial turf now being used at some of the league’s stadiums. “The players are deeply concerned about knee, hip and shoulder injuries that they’re suffering on the artificial turf.”

Pacific Sod may license overseas firms to install its special grass for indoor stadiums. Rogers calls this sod Garden Carpet--a patented system that grows grass in material that includes wood shavings.

Rogers and his wife, Beth, are the sole owners of Pacific Sod, which grows sod and produce on 2,500 acres in various locations in California and Nevada. The largest site is an 800-acre spread at the firm’s headquarters, at Las Posas and Hueneme roads.

The construction slowdown has hit the company hard in recent years, Rogers reported, with employment falling from a peak of 430 in 1989 to a current 200. “But we expect to start hiring again soon.” Pacific Sod does not disclose its sales figures.