To help improve and expand the uses of the premier stadium facility on campus beyond intercollegiate athletics, Ithaca College has announced that it will be replacing the natural-grass field with artificial turf and installing lighting at Butterfield Stadium.
The field currently hosts only four to six home football games each fall and Commencement in the spring. With synthetic turf and lighting, the stadium will be available multiple times a day, seven days a week, in all seasons.
"We are excited by the equity that these changes to Butterfield Stadium will help bring, opening it up for greater use by the entire student body, including club and intramural sports," said Susan Bassett, associate vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics and recreational sports.
"In alignment with the goals of the college's Ithaca Forever strategic plan, this will not only enhance the student experience, but also create revenue-generating opportunities, along with savings on maintenance costs and an increase in environmental sustainability," said Bill Guerrero, vice president for finance and administration. "As the largest contained outdoor space on campus, we envision Butterfield Stadium hosting activities similar to those currently held inside the Athletics and Events Center for sports, music and other gatherings in addition to daily use."
While known for its grass surface since opening in 1958, the new field is additionally expected to become an asset in recruiting student-athletes to IC. High school players are more used to playing on a synthetic field, and an analysis of peer Division III football facilities found only one other with natural grass among those regularly ranked in the top 20.
"The college's grounds crews have done a tremendous job over the years to make the grass at Butterfield Stadium a great surface on which to play, and we know there is a lot of history there," said Bassett. "But this will double our inventory of synthetic-surface field and quadruple the activity possible in late fall and the entire spring. Conducting an intercollegiate athletics program of Ithaca's scope with just one outdoor artificial-turf field to serve all of our programs is challenging at best. This is the most strategic investment we can make for both student experience and athletics competitiveness."
The conversion will also have positive economic and environmental benefits.
"Crews have to spend many hours each fall preparing — and repairing — the field," said Guerrero. "Installing synthetic turf will help us save on maintenance costs, and won't require irrigation, fertilizer or pesticides, meaning less water usage and a reduction in pollutant-laden storm water runoff."
The proposed Musco LED sports lighting system cuts energy consumption by as much as 80% compared to a traditional sports light system, and provides control that virtually eliminates glare, sky glow and light spill.
On September 27, 1958, Ithaca hosted East Stroudsburg in the first regular-season football game at what was then known as South Hill Field. On September 19, 1992, before a crowd that included former players and then-NCAA executive director Dick Schultz, the field was renamed Jim Butterfield Stadium in honor of the coach who had led the team to three national championships.
The project was planned to begin immediately following the commencement ceremony in May, with completion prior to the start of the fall semester and the first home football game on Sept 5.