Byrne & Jones Sports completes field and track installations

Byrne & Jones Sports is finishing its busiest summer ever for track and field installations with more than $14 million in projects nationally.

Athletic field installations such as this one at Francis Howell Central high school has kept St. Louis-based Byrne & Jones Sports busy all summer. Photo: Francis Howell Central High School

The company–which installs artificial and natural turf fields, track and field surfaces, and tennis courts— anticipates completing more than 30 projects nationally for colleges, high schools and other institutions including 22 athletic surfaces in St. Louis totaling more than $9 million by the end of this year.

“The projects range from track and field maintenance to replacement surfaces to building new sports surfaces,” said Britt Taulbee, president of Byrne &Jones Sports.  “For most schools, this is their second go-around with synthetic fields.  Having evaluated the lifecycle of their first artificial surface installed 10 to 12 years ago, they are opting for better quality turf.  That has also generated more in-depth questions about sub-surface conditions to ensure they are optimizing their investment.”

For example, Taulbee said the heavy clay soil found in much of the Midwest often needs to be stabilized with hydrated lime, fly ash or cement.  “A track or field is only as good as the surface it is built on,” he said. “We offer turn-key service that begins with investigating and correcting soil conditions to maximize the long-term value of an athletic surface.”

The projects the St. Louis, Mo.-based company will complete locally this year include:

• Fields for Francis Howell North and Francis Howell Central high schools and a track for the new high school in the Wentzville School District, all in St. Charles County;
• Resurfacing all four tracks at four high schools in the Parkway School District in west St. Louis County;
• A synthetic recreation field at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Ill.;
• A new track and field for Bayless High School in south St. Louis County;
• A new track and field for Washington High School in Washington, Mo.;
• Recreation fields and playground areas for Washington University in St. Louis; and
• Field repairs at McKendree University in Lebanon, Ill.

Regional and national assignments include:

• The soccer field for the new Quincy University Soccer Stadium in Quincy, Ill.;
• A synthetic turf baseball field for Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, the company’s third project for the school;
• Field work at Met Life Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. to install synthetic turf for field suites for the NFL’s New York Jets and New York Giants;
• Field renovations for Faurot Field at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Mo.;
• A track and field for Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Mo.;
• Track and field surfaces for Mount Vernon High School and Owensville High School and a track for Ava High School, all in Missouri, as well as a track and field for Marion High School in Illinois;
• A track and field for Whiting High School in Whiting, Ind.; and
• A synthetic baseball infield completed last spring for Illinois State University.