New Maintenance Facility Opened at Merion

December 21, 2010 in 2-year, Alumni, Extension

Matt Shaffer (2-Year Program, Class of 1974) recently moved into his new maintenance facility at Merion Golf Club. The facility, designed with the intention of being more green, boasts some unique aspects including:

  • Radiant heated floors in the mechanics area which uses recycled oil from the properties equipment as well as cooking oil from the Club’s kitchen.
  • A wet lab where the crew can conduct soil analyses and microscopic identification of turf diseases.
  • A six room dormitory along with a shared living space that will hold up to 11 interns.
  • A living green roof which helps to insulate the facility and disguise the buildings that sit adjacent to the 18th hole.

There are a lot of benefits to the new facility that will aid in the efficient flow of workers during the intense summers in the mid-Atlantic region. Details such as having 6 microwaves to ensure that all employees can get in and out of the kitchen area in a timely fashion is just one of the details that helps move things along. Despite all of these benefits, one of the most talked about aspects of the project will be the enormous greenroof which sits about the mechanics area, dorms, and office space.

The green roof took months and months of planning to ensure that the right soil mix and grasses were selected to ensure its success. Weight was the biggest issue with the roof and the designers decided to go with a mixture of kiln fired granite (40%), kiln fired slate (40%), and leaf mold (20%) to provide a light-weight mixture with a small amount of organic matter to sustain the seeding. The grass selected for the roof consisted of 90% ‘Aurora Gold’ hard fescue (tolerant to glyphosate) and 10% little blue stem. Another interesting component was the construction of the irrigation system for the roof. The irrigation consisted of HDPE pipe attached above ground so that the weight did not add to the green roof AND so that any future repairs would be possible without disturbance to the roof.

Check out photos of the new maintenance facility here: