Simplifying Sports with a Global Leader in Athletic Flooring
When you build a facility that will change the face of a community, why leave anything to chance?
Imagine that you have been given the opportunity to construct a new recreation center unlike anything your city as seen before. The center will be a defining feature of your community for years to come and an example to other recreation programs across your state. With that sort of spotlight, would you want anything other than the sports surfaces you think are best? Given the amount of public attention and stakeholder investment, could you afford to be behind schedule or over budget?
Obviously, the answer to both of these questions is “no,” but achieving those ideals is not quite as simple...or is it? When the city of Blue Springs, Missouri purchased a building with the intention of renovating it and turning it into a state-of-the-art recreational field house, it faced exactly this scenario. Everyone in the surrounding community was invested in the result and the city needed the project to go perfectly. Inscribed near the entrance of the new building would be the words “Fitness and Recreation for All”—an ambitious goal to live up to. The new 76,000 square foot Blue Springs Field House was to have four full-size basketball courts with markings for volleyball and pickleball, an artificial turf field, walking tracks, a spin studio, an aerobics room, and a complete fitness center with exercise equipment and weight training areas. Needless to say, the athletic flooring would take center-stage at the new site. Organizing bids and managing the installation of the various surfaces would be complex—to say the least. On top of everything else, the building site had a history of moisture problems and was not entirely ready to receive flooring.
The City of Blue Springs, along with Parks and Recreation Director Dennis Dovel, began investigating flooring providers to determine how to make the new field house a success. The list of requirements was not short. First of all, the city needed a multipurpose basketball floor that could withstand the high moisture levels expected at the facility. Secondly, it needed an indoor soccer surface worthy of being the focal point of the entire building. The city also needed a premium hardwood floor for aerobics and a durable rubber surface for weight training and exercise equipment. Above all, no one wanted any surprises. With potential complications at every corner and a tight schedule, the city needed to deal with an industry expert that could address the project’s needs from the start.
With all of the various flooring needs, you might think there were numerous phone calls to make, but in fact there was just one. The Blue Springs Field House was able to get all the industry-leading sports surfaces it needed from just one manufacturer, greatly simplifying what would otherwise be an overwhelming task.
The Solution for Blue Springs
Tarkett’s Industry-Leading Surfaces and Smart Buy Purchasing
For all its athletic surface needs, the Blues Springs Field House needed only one provider—Tarkett.
Look at any brochure next to the Tarkett logo, you will find the phrase “the ultimate surface experience.” When you consider the number of quality sports surfaces that Tarkett provided the Blue Springs Field House, you begin to see why that description fits. For its four multi-use basketball courts, the field house used Omnisports™, Tarkett’s most popular multipurpose sports floor with the Tarkolay underlayment to address the problem of moisture.
"This is an existing building. There were existing conditions here, which had water infiltration...Tarkett has been able to address those issues with the Tarkolay, allowing us to be able to have a comfort level if we do have water infiltration."
—Dennis Dovel, Parks and Recreation Director
For the soccer field, the city used FieldTurf’s XT-50. FieldTurf is Tarkett’s worldwide leading brand of artificial turf, providing competitive sports fields for the NFL, NCAA, MLS, and FIFA. For the aerobics area, the Blue Springs Field House choose Tarkett’s PUR-Compliant Performance System, using MFMA Northern Hard Maple. Finally, the project used Tarkett’s Dropzone Comfort for the weight training and fitness area—a durable, FloorScore® certified recycled rubber surface.
In addition to the convenience of using one athletic surface provider and the simplicity of having only one manufacturer for warranty coverage, the Blue Springs Field House benefited from using Tarkett in another way. All of the athletic surfaces were purchased using the Smart Buy cooperative purchasing program. This allowed the field house to stay on schedule and stay within the prescribed budget. It also meant that Director Dennis Dovel could get the quality surfaces that he wanted for the project without compromise and with expert guidance.
“As far as Tarkett, we felt like they provided numerous years of experience. They have several projects that were very similar to ours that didn’t have issues with them and we felt like the variety and selection of the flooring they could provide, not only on the Omnisports™, but also in the FieldTurf realm, as well as the rubber sheet goods that we used in our fitness center, the multitude of color choices, selections, and product choices they have were a tremendous fit for our facility. I would encourage anybody to strongly consider using the Smart Buy program as well as Tarkett.”
—Dennis Dovel, Parks and Recreation Director
Today, the Blue Springs Field House is a thriving community hub, helping individuals stay fit in ways they never would have expected possible just a few years earlier. What is the takeaway from this success? Never compromise your vision. No project is too complex or ambitious if you choose the right partner, one that can provide the variety, expertise, and innovation to get the job done right.
Tarkett Sports • 175 N Industrial Boulevard • Calhoun, Georgia 30701 • 888-364-6541 • tarkettsportsindoor.com
