Georgia Military College’s football field, one of the oldest in Georgia, currently looks more like a gravel parking lot.
It’s all part of the $1.7 million makeover at Davenport Field, which includes new artificial turf. The plan is for the new FieldTurf playing surface to be ready in time for the junior college Bulldogs’ first home game on Aug. 29. The prep school, meanwhile, has its home opener on Sept. 4 vs. McIntosh County.
Two separate layers of rock lie beneath every FieldTurf playing surface. The bottom layer of rock is larger and looser and acts as a reservoir. The top layer, as seen in the photo at right, is smaller and more compact.
Behind the 20-yard line on the visitor’s sideline, meanwhile, is all of the FieldTurf, stacked high and resembling large rolls of shag carpet (inset). Shaw Carpet, which operated a plant on the southside of Milledgeville for several decades, is the manufacturer of the playing surface. Once all of the rolls are laid out and glued down, small black specks of “turf beads” will be added, thus completing the FieldTurf project.
Davenport Field will be the second artificial playing surface in Milledgeville, joining the one at Baldwin High’s football stadium. John Milledge Academy, meanwhile, likely won’t be joining the trend anytime soon. JMA’s grass playing surface stays in tip-top shape, rivaling that of many college football fields.
Davenport Field originally served as a training ground and parade ground for GMC. The first sanctioned football game was played in 1907. Davenport Field, the name itself, dates back to 1922, when the stadium was renamed in honor of Michael Davenport, a GMC cadet who died during an exhibition baseball game at Davenport Field.
Nine years prior to that, meanwhile, Georgia native and Hall of Fame outfielder Ty Cobb played in an exhibition baseball game at Davenport Field.