It is out with the old and next month it will be in with the new.
The sand-based hockey turf at the McMillan Centre at Logan Park has been lifted by a group of about 30 volunteers.
The 18-year-old turf was becoming worn and dangerous and is to be replaced by a water-based turf to be installed next month.
Otago Hockey Association chief executive Chris Aubin said it had taken forklifts, other machinery and human muscle to roll up all the turf and underlay. The turf covered more than 54,000 sq m.
Aubin said the volunteers saved thousands of dollars as it would have cost more than $10,000 to have a contractor lift the turf.
The sand turf is now sitting in rolls at Logan Park and Aubin said anyone could take it. He said the turf was hard wearing and had multiple uses, including dairy farmers putting it down on cattle runs.
The association would try to sell the underlay.
The new $850,000 water-based turf, produced by New Zealand company Tiger Turf, is due to be installed starting on February 9 and will take about six weeks to complete.
Aubin said no competitions would be affected with just the one turf available for the next couple of months, as it was the hockey off-season.
