New Turf For UND Football Will Cost Taxpayers $66,000 Per Home Game
The Alerus Center is a gigantic financial boondoggle in Grand Forks for which the elected leadership in that city has been milking taxpayers for far too long. After more than a decade, the Alerus Center has never been operated for a profit. In fact, it costs the taxpayers millions of dollars per year to operate.
But its supporters argue that it was never intended to operate at a profit, and that the crowds coming to Alerus events (mostly UND football these days) spur enough commerce in the city to offset the expense of the arena. This seems unlikely, especially since most of the fans of UND football already live in Grand Forks, and aren’t exactly adding commerce to the community in that their commerce would have happened there anyway.
Regardless, the cost of the Alerus just got a whole lot more for Grand Forks taxpayers with the football team getting new turf that will, over its lifetime, cost some $66,000 per home game.
As an indoor football venue, the Alerus Center cannot host games on real grass, but for $4 million, it can have something almost as good.
After 11 years of wear and tear, the Alerus Center’s management is replacing its playing surface with new turf, estimated to cost between $3.5 million to $4 million.
The new surface will be infill turf, a material that comes closer to replicating the feel of natural turf and is easier on the bodies of athletes playing an impact sport. …
If the new surface is used 25 times a year for 10 years, a new $4 million system would come to $16,000 per day of use. For six UND home games, it would cost $66,000 per game.
What a bargain. And why not?
It’s only other people’s money.
Tags: Alerus Center, North Dakota News, University of North Dakota
