saintz08

Greener pastures in doubt at Dome

AstroPlay company files for bankruptcy


Saturday February 21, 2004


By Jeff Duncan
Staff writer

Superdome officials thought they had buried their playing-surface problems under the state-of-the-art artificial turf field they rolled into the facility last November.

Now it appears they might be back where they started.

SRI Sports Inc. of Leander, Texas, the company that installed the AstroPlay field in the Superdome last November, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Feb. 23.

SRI Sports' uncertain future has left the Superdome in limbo, putting in question what field the facility will use next football season.

"It remains to be seen what happens to SRI Sports," Superdome spokesman Bill Curl said Friday. "Nothing is etched in stone at this point."

While the issue sorts itself out, Curl said at least three options are possible:

-- The Superdome could re-install the old field from last season. The 208-foot-by-408-foot field was removed shortly after LSU's win against Oklahoma in the Sugar Bowl. It is being stored at the facility, but there are concerns about whether the field will be playable after being rolled up for several months.

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