There were three pieces of equipment from Vasco Asphalt of Massillon, Ohio, used throughout that process.

One pulled up the strips of turf, shook it, and collected materials that had been stuck to it using huge bags.

The second took away the bags.

The third rolled up the strips of turf.

Times Observer photos by Brian Ferry A Vasco Asphalt worker driving a skid steer places another bag of field fill from Warren Memorial Field among hundreds of others just outside the fence Tuesday as all of the turf was removed from the field in preparation for installation of new turf.

The last strip was pulled up this week.

According to the Vasco crew, each strip of turf was about 4 feet wide. The rolls represented strips of turf 150- to 160-feet long. Those rolls were placed in the center of the field.

There were over 200 bags of material — a mixture of rubber and sand — by the time the work was done.

The bags were lined up outside the fence to the east of the home stands. Each contained about a ton of material.

“It actually saves us tens of thousands of dollars to to reuse the field infil — made of rubber pellets and sand,” Warren Sports Boosters President Michael Boyd said. “Those dollars can be spent elsewhere.”

Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Workers from Vasco Asphalt operate a special piece of equipment that pulls up strips of turf, shakes them, and bags the material shaken loose on Tuesday during renovation of War Memorial Field.

The track surface was removed immediately after the end of the school year. “We have been utilizing Daryl and his team at Huber’s Blacktop for the track removal and paving,” Boyd said. “They have been fantastic to work with and we hope to see paving begin as soon as the drains are completed.”

There had been some concerns about the drains.

“We believe that we have a solution for the drainage issue using our existing piping that will provide more than adequate egress of the water during a rainfall,” Boyd said. “We are working with Mansfield Sanitation Services out of Meadville who is cleaning out the current lines that are packed with years of mud, track material, and sand.”

Once that is done, new equipment will be installed.

“New drains will be installed and laser-set at appropriate heights,” he said. “We want to thank the City of Warren for recently cleaning their storm lines out which will also help greatly with drainage.”

“The field should be arriving for install mid-July which will really start to make this stadium look like home again,” he said.

The project is moving forward and expected to be done in time for the fall seasons.

The boosters hope the funding will be fully in place by then, too.

“We are still in need of approximately $150,000 to reach our goal for completion,” Boyd said. “We are grateful for every penny that has come in and continue to ask that any contributions be sent to the Boosters at P.O. Box 1414, Warren, Pa 16365. We are 501(c)(3) organization.”

For those who are concerned that there has been no flag flying at the field as Independence Day approaches, the boosters are aware and are working on it.

“During the last storm, the heavy winds and rain snapped the flag rope,” Boyd said. “The flag was fortunately turned in to the YMCA and we are waiting on the new rope to arrive any day. The plan is to have it back in place by July 4.”