Artificial turf not ruled out for National Stadium
SHPL spent S$1.5 million on special lighting machines to stimulate growth of the grass on
the National Stadium’s pitch. TODAY File Photo
SINGAPORE — The National Stadium’s pitch will be a natural one, for June’s SEA Games at least, but Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Mr Lawrence Wong, has not ruled out the possibility of artificial surfaces in the future.
However, the minister said additional costs incurred by SportsHub Pte Ltd (SHPL), the company that operates the S$1.33 billion Sports Hub, which houses the National Stadium, would not be passed down to its tenants and customers.
Responding to Non-Constituency Member of Parliament (NMP) Gerald Giam’s question in Parliament on the issue yesterday, Mr Wong said: “SHPL did an extensive review and decided to go with a natural turf ‘lay and play’ solution. This was preferred over a fully artificial pitch because top sporting events and top teams in sports such as football and rugby demand a natural turf.”
The “lay and play” method will see natural grass being laid on top of the existing surface.
Mr Wong added: “The situation may change because the artificial pitch is getting better, technology is getting better and acceptance is growing. And so, we are not ruling it out completely and SHPL will continue to monitor (the situation) and I’m sure it will continue to assess whether this can be an option in the future.”
Last month, SHPL announced it would grow a natural pitch in a nursery and transport it to the 55,000-seater National Stadium, while a second larger pitch would be maintained for sports that require a bigger area, such as cricket.
SHPL spent about S$2.3 million on the National Stadium’s pitch, with the original hybrid Desso GrassMaster field, which consists of natural grass woven onto synthetic fibres for greater strength, costing S$800,000 and special lighting machines to stimulate growth of the grass chalking up another S$1.5 million.
However, the pitch’s sandy conditions continued to draw criticism, resulting in the decision to use the “lay and play” method. Mr Wong gave the assurance that the Sports Hub’s tenants and customers would not be affected by additional costs incurred.
“Sport Singapore will continue to keep a close watch on rentals, charges and ticket prices at the Sports Hub to ensure this commitment is upheld,” he said. “All of the leadership (and) the people involved in this project have given us the promise that they will do their best to rectify the teething issues and will do it at their own costs. They have given this promise not only to Sport Singapore, but (also) publicly to Singaporeans, and we will hold them to account for this.”
