EAST LANSING - Spartan Stadium is returning to agrarian roots.

Gone is the astroturf that has covered the field since 1969. The most recent carpet was eight years old, and it was torn out at the end of the last football season.

Coming this summer, thanks to the work of the building trades and Hausmann Construction, is a playing surface that's much more in line with the university's agricultural tradition: a blend of nine varieties of Kentucky bluegrass, which is currently being grown on-campus at the MSU Hancock Turfgrass Center.

The new grass field is expected to be in place and ready for the Spartans' first home game of the season, Aug. 31 against Eastern Michigan University.

MSU Associate Athletic Director Greg Ianni said construction workers will be working on lowering the playing field 11 inches, building a perimeter concrete wall to contain the new playing surface, as well as installing an irrigation and drainage system.

"The carpet had reached the end of its useful life, and we had a decision to make," Ianni said. "It was an athletic department decision, and it was a university decision. Coach (Bobby) Williams was strongly in favor of going to grass. But the other reason was that the university has a strong turf growing program, and this is an opportunity to showcase it."

The total cost of the project is about $2 million. An interesting feature about the project, Ianni said, is the installation of duct banks at ground level that will blow warm air on the field. No, not to keep the players warm during games in November - the warm air will be used to extend the growing season of the grass, keeping the field in good shape late into the fall.

The seeds for the grass were planted last May in 4,800 individual plastic modules, which will be loaded onto trucks and transported to Spartan Stadium. A similar system was used to place natural turf at the Pontiac Silverdome when the World Cup Soccer championships were held in 1994. 

THE ARTIFICIAL SURFACE at Michigan State University's Spartan Stadium was long-gone last week, replaced by a cover of snow. By the end of next August, the field will be covered with Kentucky bluegrass.