Doug Bradley used a thermometer to take his patient's temperature Wednesday — but most of the patient was already dead.

        Mr. Bradley, head groundskeeper at Paul Brown Stadium, raked and seeded the middle portion of the stadium's turf in hopes the field will stand up better to the rigors of next year's NFL season.

Doug Bradley, head groundskeeper at Paul Brown Stadium, fingers a clump of dead turf from the the field. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        He used a meat thermometer to make sure the field's heating system was working properly and heating all sections to the same temperature.

        Hamilton County commissioners and Bengals officials are concerned that taxpayers' $4 million investment in the field has not paid dividends. There have been problems with dead grass being stripped away to a pile of sand in each of the first two seasons at the new stadium.

        Commissioners asked their stadium manager to look at alternative playing surfaces and report back to them in about a month.

        Commissioner Todd Portune said he's worried that the delicate grass could make it difficult to hold special events in the stadium.

        “Anytime we have any other public use at the stadium, we'll have the same debate about what damage it will cause,” Mr. Portune said. “I would like us to move full speed ahead on an evaluation of other types of turf.”

        Commissioner John Dowlin agreed: “We need a staff recommendation. Do we stick with the game plan or change the game plan?”

        Joe Feldkamp, assistant stadium manager, said the game plan has never had a chance to work.

        That's because a drought killed the Kentucky bluegrass that was being grown for the stadium, forcing the county to install Bermuda — a type of grass not typically used in cold weather states — during the inaugural season at Paul Brown Stadium.

        The playing field — which includes an underground heating system that is supposed to help the grass grow and melt snow — cost taxpayers about $4 million.

        This year, the bluegrass was two months late in arriving and didn't have a chance to root. That led Cleveland contractor S.W. Franks to replace — at its cost — the center portion of the field in November.

        “We're talking about 18 feet that's making everybody's life miserable,” Mr. Bradley said, referring to the strip of land in the center of the field between the hash marks that has been stripped to barren sand.

        “We've already started repairing the damage with new seed that should germinate in a few weeks,” said Mr. Bradley, adding that bluegrass is the right surface for the stadium. “I didn't want to be at this juncture again. But we're going to make it work.”

        When asked what he would be doing if the Bengals were in position to be hosting a playoff game in a couple of weeks, Mr. Bradley said: “We'd be resodding as we speak.”

        Eric Brown, the stadium's manager (who is not related to team owner Mike Brown), said his staff will spend the next month talking to other cold-city stadium managers about their fields before making a recommendation to commissioners.

        “We committed to natural grass when the stadium was built,” Mr. Brown said. “We're not ready to abandon it at this point.”

        National Football League spokesman Dan Masonson said league officials will be talking to the Bengals about the field condition after the season. Mr. Masonson said there were “a few” other stadium surfaces the NFL is concerned about, but declined to name them.

        “We are looking into the field conditions and discussing with the Bengals ways to make sure the field is in the best possible condition,” Mr. Masonson said.

        Hamilton County Commissioner Tom Neyer said there is validity to the argument that the grass hasn't had a chance to take root before the first preseason games were played.

        “Our position all along has been that natural turf, if it works, is the best option,” Mr. Neyer said. “We should give that best option an adequate chance to work.”

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