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The Recreation and Park Department regularly cleans the fields of debris and grooms the turf to improve play. While different brands of turf have slightly different maintenance requirements, the basics are the same — weekly sweeping to pick up small debris like leaves and bottle caps, and bi-monthly grooming using a large "broom drag" to even out the rubber infill and raise the turf fibers. Some companies also suggest bi-monthly grooming using a "field groomer" which loosens the infill and brushes the fibers up.
The City is also required to meet voter-approved cleanliness standards established in 2003.
Special detergents are not recommended for synthetic turf fields and are not used in San Francisco. When the turf requires extra cleaning, park staff uses soap and water as recommended by the turf manufacturers.
City Fields and the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department are working together to make sure that the fields are available to a wide range of people, from neighborhood children, local schools, and sports leagues.
Visit Recreation and Parks’ Athletic Field Reservations section of their webpage for more information about reserving athletic fields.
Prior to each round of field renovations, City Fields and the Recreation and Parks Department jointly evaluate more than 80 city-managed athletic fields to determine which fields would benefit most from synthetic turf and which parks are appropriate for synthetic turf and lights. Our original criteria for evaluating these fields included:
- Ability to increase field capacity
- Proximity to a neighborhood with a high percentage of children
- Presence of an on-site recreation center
- Proposed site is an athletic field and not primarily used for passive recreation
Since then, we’ve worked with Recreation and Parks on a supply and demand analysis to better understand where synthetic field installations are most needed. We’ve also expanded our criteria to include:
- Field size and type (soccer, baseball, softball, lacrosse, football, multi-use)
- Type of capacity added
- Whether a new field could be added to the site
- Field location
- Site maximizes the benefits of synthetic turf
- Renovation will convert the site from asphalt to synthetic turf
- Park is not prone to flooding
- Field sits above the water table
- RPD Natural Areas Manager has not identified any sensitive species at the site
The Playfields Initiative, a partnership between City Fields and the Recreation and Park Department, is a $48 million program found with $20 million from the city of San Francisco and a $28 million matching donation from the City Fields Foundation.
Email us with any additional questions at fields@cityfieldsfoundation.org.