Synthetic Turf and Natural Grass Turf Study at El Camino Park

The Community Services Department oversees the management of both natural and synthetic athletic fields including El Camino Park, the Stanford-Palo Alto Community Playing Fields (Mayfield), and the fields at Cubberley Community Center. The synthetic turf field at El Camino Park is at or near the end of its useful life and requires replacement. The City maintains synthetic turf fields at three locations: Stanford Palo Alto Playing Fields (Mayfield), El Camino Park, and Cubberley Community Center. None of these locations are owned by the City; Stanford Palo Alto Playing fields and El Camino fields are on Stanford land, and Cubberley is on Palo Alto Unified School District land.

• Stanford Palo Alto Playing Fields (Mayfield)
•  El Camino Park
• Cubberley Synthetic Turf Field - Cubberley has one synthetic turf soccer field

A Capital Improvement Project (PG-24000) for the replacement of the El Camino Park synthetic turf field was included in the FY 2024 Adopted Capital Budget. During the Finance Committee meeting on May 21, 2024, the City Council directed staff to conduct additional analysis before proceeding with replacement. The Turf Study was approved by the City Council on April 21, 2025, and incorporated into the FY 2025 budget. The project scope, finalized with Lloyd Consulting Group, LLC. for a total of $139,613, includes the evaluation of various turf options (natural, synthetic, and hybrid) as well as infill materials, field profiles, drainage systems, emerging products, and life cycle impacts.

While the replacement of the El Camino Park field is on hold pending the study’s findings, the Stanford-Palo Alto (Mayfield) field replacement project (PG-26000) was approved at June 09, 2025 City Council Meeting.

 April 21 2025 Turf Study Staff Report and Meeting Materials(PDF, 7MB)

Finance Committee Discussion 2024