Resolution to the issue of what will be done with Ross-Ade Stadium's troubled playing field is forthcoming.

Following an administrative meeting Nov. 17, a second meeting was called for Nov. 28, at which time a final decision is expected to be made, according to athletic department spokesman Jay Cooperider.

Ross-Ade's Prescription Athletic Turf surface fell into disrepair during games this season, a problem attributed to an unseasonably hot summer that prevented grass from taking strong-enough root. As a result, the field was often a sandy mess, littered with flying wads of grass, moveable flaps of turf and large holes. Footing was far from sound, to say the least.

The administrative team seeking a solution to the problem is mulling two big-picture options: Fix the grass or replace it with an artificial substitute.

A delegation of athletic department and university personnel has made trips to schools like Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Kent State in recent weeks on a fact-finding mission about those schools' chosen surfaces.

According to Cooperider, if Purdue opts to replace the grass, the current PAT system will remain in place, but will be adorned with either Bermuda grass or Kentucky bluegrass, each of which has certain advantages, as far as natural surfaces go.

A grass replacement project would only require the existing sod to be "milled" off the field, for the field to be leveled and for the new grass to be planted.

"There would be no major excavation," Cooperider said.

Cooperider said that should Purdue opt for an artificial surface, it would then choose from four possibilities: FieldTurf, AstroPlay, Sportexe or Sprinturf, each of which are in use in one form or another by major college or NFL football teams.

Money, according to Cooperider, will be no object in this endeavor.

"We don't want this to be money-driven," Cooperider said. "We want this done once, done right."

Regardless of what happens with the stadium, Purdue's long-standing plans to install new artificial turf in the Mollenkopf Athletic Center are a go. That project — which would replace Mollenkopf's nearly 16-year-old AstroTurf and renovate the indoor practice facility — is slated to be completed late this spring or early this summer, on a schedule that would work around when the indoor field is slated to be in use by football or other sports.

Purdue has not yet chosen a product to be installed in Mollenkopf.

"That is still being researched," Cooperider said.

In the past, athletic director Morgan Burke had estimated the Mollenkopf project to carry a price tag of $750,000-$1 million.

In yet another field-related issue that arose this season, Coach Joe Tiller expressed dissatisfaction with the outdoor practice fields running alongside the Mollenkopf building, going so far as to have his team regularly practice two blocks up the street on the field used by West Lafayette Junior High School.

Cooperider said there are no immediate plans for any renovation to the outdoor fields.

"Ross-Ade is the first priority," Cooperider said. "We have not moved to the point where we've said, 'What should we do with this field or that field?' Clearly our competitive venue in football is the one most in need of attention at this time."

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