Huskie Stadium’s turf will be replaced this spring at a cost of up to $460,000 as the Board of Trustees’ Finance, Facilities and Operations subcommittee approved the expenditure at a Thursday meeting.

John Cheney, senior associate athletic director of facilities and event operations, said the turf and its installation will be paid out of operational bond funds; the Athletic Department won’t have to do any fundraising. The Board of Trustees will have to approve the costs at its next meeting, March 12.

“If we didn’t purchase [the turf] this year the fund would go back into the reserve and it would basically be the same thing” next year, Cheney said.

With the expenditure expected to be approved March 12, Cheney said the next step is to put the turf out for competitive bids. Only the carpet portion of the turf will be replaced as the base underneath is good; Cheney said it doesn’t matter what type of turf is put over the base.

“Obviously making sure that we have the right turf that’s down there you have to make sure that — just like we put in the indoor facility — we have to make sure that it should be at a certain grade and quality,” said Athletic Director Sean Frazier.

Frazier said he’s a traditionalist when it comes to football and basketball court designs and the plan is to “keep the same shades of green” on the stadium’s field. He said the difference with the basketball court, which features a Huskie face, was he felt it “needed a little pizzazz.” There will be a new design component on the football field turf, but he would only say “people will like it and it’ll be very traditional to the state of Illinois.”

Frazier said the artificial turf will be ready for football’s season opener Sept. 5 against the Nevada-Las Vegas Rebels.

“Our intention’s to do it in May after spring football and prior to football camps and summer events in the stadium,” Cheney said.

NIU last replaced the turf at Huskie Stadium, which is FieldTurf, prior to the 2009 season. Cheney said the average life span of artificial turf is five to eight years.

In addition to NIU football games, the turf is used for football practices, Illinois High School Association state championship football games, halftime performances during games, band camps and what Frazier called “general rentals.”

Replacing the turf “is part of maintenance,” Frazier said. “It’s part of us making sure that we have the necessary facilities to be competitive. It’s safety; it’s a big safety issue. We need to make sure that we have the adequate facilities so our athletes and our people who use the field are safe. So, I would count that as more of a safety, wear-and-tear replacement more so than a part of a Facilities Master Plan project.”