New Plymouth’s Yarrow Stadium revamp to deliver new lighting and hybrid turf

Yarrow Stadium’s status as one of New Zealand leading regional venues is to be confirmed with confirmation - under contracts announced this week - that the refurbished venue will feature state-of-the art hybrid turf and LED floodlighting.

Introducing the additions, David MacLeod, Chair of Taranaki Regional Council which owns the venue through the Taranaki Stadium Trust, stated that the additions are "exciting news for all Stadium users - local, regional, national or international.

"Installing hybrid turf and LED lighting required highly specialised skillsets, and we’ve chosen contractors with a solid record of success at major projects all over New Zealand.

Hybrid turf
The main pitch will get ‘GrassMaster’ hybrid turf - a blend of natural turf grown through and among artificial fibre that give the pitch a longer life with shorter recovery times that can triple the amount of weekly playing time compared with conventional turf.
Hybrid turf is already in use at top venues including Auckland’s Eden Park and ASB Stadium, Hamilton’s FMG Stadium, Wellington’s Sky Stadium, Christchurch’s Orangetheory Stadium (formerly AMI Stadium) and Dunedin’s Forsyth Barr stadium.

To be installed by Auckland-based FieldTurf, supported by design consultancy New Zealand Turf Management Solutions (NZTMS), the GrassMaster hybrid turf offers a lifespan of up to 15 years and up to 1000 playing hours a year. It is used on more than 640 pitches worldwide including 80% of the UK’s Premier League clubs.

FieldTurf have installed the GrassMaster product at Forsyth Barr Stadium, Orangetheory Stadium and FMG Stadium

MacLeod added "what’s really exciting about the hybrid turf is that while it’s particularly favoured for top-level fixtures, its quicker recovery time will make the main pitch more readily available for local and regional users.”

The timing of the installation is still being finalised, but it is likely to be laid by early 2022.

LED floodlighting
The LED floodlights will be installed on the existing light towers and grandstand roofs by Arnold Jensen Electrical (AJE), a long-established Christchurch-based contractor, and Signify (formerly Philips Lighting).

The new lights will increase illuminance by 50% while reducing power consumption by 30%.

MacLeod says the lighting upgrade was overdue even before both grandstands were declared earthquake-prone in 2017 and 2018, noting “the old lights were already well past their use-by date. And it’s fantastic that the new lights will be better but will need less power. That means we can continue using the existing main switchboard and lighting connection."

The existing lights will be removed from the lighting towers in August and the new ones will be commissioned and operational early 2022.

The 25,000-seat venue, damaged in the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, is currently undergoing a $50 million remodelling will ensure it is safe and suits a broader range of regional and community sports while continuing to be the premier regional venue for top-level sport in the Taranaki region.

The main East Stand of Yarrow Stadium is being demolished and replaced, with the West Stand to be repaired.

As of yesterday, Taranaki Regional Council confirmed that the project remains within budget.