Polytan sports surfaces at the Stade Hautes Croix, in Méréville, France.
Striking eye-catcher in the heart of an ancient cultural landscape
Méréville in the French department of Essonne is located in the heart of the Île-de-France. This small town with around 3,000 inhabitants has always been dominated by agriculture and is considered the watercress capital of France.
Apart from the Château de Méréville, built between 1768 and 1794, the new Hautes Croix sports complex is undoubtedly one of the points of interest in Méréville. It took six months to rebuild and extensively renovate the entire complex – including the stadium. The renovation works not only included a synthetic turf pitch, but also a running track with long jump and high jump facilities, which we equipped with Polytan surfaces.
For the synthetic turf, 8,198 m² of LigaTurf RS Pro II was installed. Thanks to its unique yarn design and material formulation, this surface provides outstanding playing characteristics and extremely high wear resistance. Our innovative “ENTANGLEMENT” technology guarantees a perfectly soft filament even at high cross-section thicknesses: the improved cross-section ensures turf-like playing characteristics with a long lifespan and low maintenance, thereby allowing games to be played to the same standards enjoyed by professionals. Players at the US Saclas Méréville football club are currently benefiting from this.
The synthetic turf pitch is bordered and visually contrasted with LigaGrass Pro CP in lining blue, as are the long jump and high jump facilities. Covering an area of 2,364 m², this textured synthetic turf system gives the turf a high volume and excellent structure; it is truly multifunctional and perfectly transitions between the synthetic turf and the running track in Méréville. The integrated permanent CoolPlus function prevents the turf from heating up too much in the sunshine.
We installed Rekortan M – the professional sports surface – on the competitive running tracks and the tracks at the high jump and long jump facilities. Its outstanding features include excellent acceleration and high tread elasticity. Its excellent shock absorption is the reason for the constant elastic values. Rekortan M is a cast-coated and waterproof surface, suitable for spikes and ideal for competitive running tracks in athletics stadiums and school sports facilities. It is available in numerous colours; a classic “brick red” colour was chosen for Méréville.
Thanks to the colourful interplay of rich green, intense blue and vibrant red, the Stade Hautes Croix is not only visually eye-catching in the heart of an old cultural landscape, but it is also home to the local football club and the newly founded athletics club, Athlétic Club Mérévillois. The sports complex is used by nearby schools and the Collège du Mérévillois, too. As part of this major investment work totalling around EUR 2 million – about 70% of which was subsidised – the city also built changing rooms, a snack bar, sanitary facilities, a ball fence and a floodlight system.
