WINDSOR, Colo. — As the winter months and the, much-delayed, first snow of the season approach, the facilities team at Future Legends Complex has turned its attention to making sure the complex is ready for the freezing weather that is sure to be on the way.
“With it getting closer to those colder temperatures and snow starts to fall there are a few things we have to make sure we prepare for those colder temperatures.,” Future Legends facilities manager Tino Miranda said.
A key thing for the team to avoid in the offseason is frozen pipes, which can cause significant problems when it comes time to begin watering fields again in the spring.
Blowing out the irrigation lines on site (is important) because if those freeze, they could break or crack and cause potential problems and flooding when we turn the water back on in the spring,” Miranda said.
Surprisingly, water is not the only liquid that the field maintenance team has to worry about freezing, as the Colorado winter can get so cold it freezes the paint used to draw lines on the field for the various sports on the Complex.
“We have to make sure we clean really well and clear out all of the liquid in the system is our robotic painter we use to paint fields, foul lines, etc. If we do not clear out the tubes of paint it will be a struggle to clear come spring time when we have to start it up again,” Miranda said.
Once the fields at the Complex are prepped for winter, the focus shifts to making sure the necessary roads and sidewalks are clear for traffic as needed.
“Once it does start to snow then our main priority is snow removal,” Miranda said. “We have to make sure all of our snow removal equipment: plows, spreaders, and blowers are greased up, oil is checked and shear pins are good to go so there are no problems for when snow begins to fall.”
