The U.S. Airways Arena, home of the National Basketball Associations' Phoenix Suns recently completed a carpet replacement project in the corridors of their two suite levels. Alvan Adams, VP of Operations and former professional basketball player for the Suns asked Alan Lombardi from Spectra Phoenix to provide custom carpet tile options to coordinate with the Suns purple and orange team colors.

After reviewing options from numerous sources, the Phoenix Suns selected a product provided by Alan. In addition to product design, the replacement of existing carpet required extensive coordination. The U.S. Airways Arena also expressed their environmental goals. Spectra participated by coordinating the recycling of the old carpet removed from the facility. This effort diverted over 3,000 yards of carpet, approximately 6,000 lbs, from a local landfill.

The Goodyear Ballpark and Recreation Complex serves as the spring training home for two major league baseball teams, the Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds. The complex, with a construction value in excess of $100 million, includes the Goodyear Ballpark, the Indians clubhouse and practice fields, and the Reds clubhouse and practice fields. Spectra Contract Flooring was contracted by Barton Malow, a national construction company, to successfully manage this high profile project for the City of Goodyear. The ballpark, which is considered the center-piece of future additional development, required several unique flooring finishes to be installed by Spectra. Alan Lombardi and Terry Newman are the Spectra employees whom managed this project to a successful completion.

The Cincinnati Reds training facilities include a clubhouse that features a stunning installation of Milliken custom cushion back carpet tile. The weight room area has Mondo sports flooring installed, including a Cincinnati Reds logo. Bamboo flooring was installed in the main lobby as well as several individual offices, and Johnsonite millwork base was provided to help maintain a quality theme to the project. A very attractive installation of ceramic floor and wall tile was installed in the restrooms. Finally, Spectra was also contracted to provide and install all of the artificial turf flooring in the batting cage area.

In addition to the Goodyear project, Spectra has completed numerous spring training complex projects in Arizona which include Phoenix Municipal Stadium, The Peoria Sports Complex, and Scottsdale Stadium.

Arnold O. Beckman High School is Orange County California's newest educational jewel, with stunning architectural design and highly technological systems for student and teacher sharing through campus-wide networking, and is a monument to the very popular founder of local Beckman Instruments--one of the nation's primary contributors to the development and manufacturing of NASA project systems and controls, dating from the very beginning of space exploration. Tustin Unified School District, and it's architect Trittipo Architecture & Planning, along with General Contractor Douglas E. Barhart, Inc. selected Spectra Contract Flooring for the completion of the Gymnasium Complex' 20,800 square foot hardwood flooring project after extensive post-bid interviews.

Arnold O. Beckman High SchoolThe challenge facing Spectra/Orange County's project management team of Ken Krausfeldt and Gary Borns was the looming grand opening date featuring State and County officials and a very public celebration. Juncker's Hardwood was selected to provide the 7/8" X 2.25" X 12 tongue and groove maple flooring, and was installed over rubber cushioned stringers, with moisture barrier installed throughout the entire project. The completed floor was then job finished with two coats of Hillard "Court Guard" sealer, was painted with sport-court lines, and finally painted with the schools mascot logo at center court. With less than 30 days to complete the project, Spectra's Master Hardwood installation foreman, George Foster, was instrumental in achieving in this on-time, on-budget performance.

The grand opening celebration featured several pubic acknowledgements of Spectra's contribution to the project's success by speakers. Both print and television media captured the event and featured stories and video of the Gymnasium Complex flooring as their feature story line.

In 1937 The Cincinnati Bengals formed, in 2000 the new Paul Brown Stadium opened, and in 2007 the team decides to explore new flooring options in some Locker Rooms with Spectra Contract Flooring providing the guidance. The Spectra Team, led by Jeff Lyon, took on this prestigious task with focus on creativity. The task was to use Interface Superflor Carpet tile as the field and border, but then create 4 custom Bengal “B” Logos inset into the field.

After researching many options, a template was built and the superb labor was provided to complete this detailed installation. Each logo has 64 pieces/cuts of carpet tile and are even quarter turned to match the grain of the field.

With the expertise and dedication of the Spectra Team they took this job head on resulting in a beautiful installation that exceeded the customers expectations.

This field is the cat's meow. It's a more consistent playing surface than grass, and unlike grass, no matter how much you use it, there are no wear patterns or holes – which can lead to injuries. In drought conditions, a natural field gets hard as a rock. This has the same natural grass feel – in any conditions.

Three trends drove our decision: scarce land, pressing environmental issues – i.e., fertilizers and watering – and the growth of extra-curricular school activities. Real estate actuaries estimated, conservatively, that property values would appreciate 9 to 13 percent across the board as a result of having this top-quality field in place – making it an actual selling point for people moving to the area.

Spectra was absolutely meticulous in putting the field together. They were true craftsmen. With Shaw and Berkshire Hathaway behind it, it just made sense every way that we looked at it.

The field has become the talk of the town and the state. I've taken calls from all across the southeast, including some from collegiate athletic departments. It's truly been a win-win for everyone: the school, all the students – not just the sports teams – and the community.

Tony Carlson
Lassiter High School - Marietta, Georgia

Spectra Contract Flooring installed TerraSoft Star turf on the Etowah High School football field.

The testimonial below describes the results.

All the players love the new field. It feels like natural grass, there haven’t been any injuries, and when it rains, it never gets muddy or slippery.

Before, we could only use the main football field during games because of the wear and tear. Now, we can use it non-stop if we want, and that frees up our practice fields for other teams.

Spectra has been very responsive and they’ve done a good job all the way through. We looked at eight firms, but knowing that Shaw was behind the whole operation made us feel a lot more comfortable.

What’s great is how the field has become a community gathering point. Our local youth football association now practices on it instead of their usual rocky “mudlots.” So, every night, someone’s playing on it, and there’s all this great interaction between folks that wasn’t happening before.

We even hosted our first band competition recently. We ended up raising thousands of dollars and really put our school on the map. I’m getting calls like crazy these days from other area schools, who’ve heard about how well our field has worked out, and they want one for their school.

Eric Young, Community coach for varsity program
Etowah High School - Woodstock, Georgia