Fort Worth, TX, Mar. 28--The most bizarre sports business story unfolding in 2004 is the sudden bankruptcy of Southwest Recreational Industries, which had been a world leader in making and installing synthetic and natural grass playing fields, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
SRI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Feb. 13 to the dismay of hundreds of clients across the country, many of whom have construction projects in limbo. Others, whose SRI turf projects were finished in January, feel lucky.
"We sure are (lucky)," said Fred Laux, director of purchasing for the Hurst-Euless-Bedford school district, which hired the Leander-based company to install AstroPlay turf at Pennington Field. That project was completed in early January without a hint of the trouble to come.
"It's a really good product and everybody's happy with it," Laux said. "But when a company goes belly-up like that it was a real major surprise. That was the last thing I would have thought would happen to those people."
Those are also the thoughts of Steven Maki, director of facilities and engineering for the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission, which owns and operates the Metrodome in Minneapolis. SRI outbid its competitors to install AstroPlay in the Metrodome in time for the Minnesota Twins' home opener April 5.
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge late last month granted a motion by the commission to cancel its contract with SRI, which was to have begun installing the new turf March 15. Maki said Montreal-based FieldTurf, which came in second behind SRI in the Metrodome bidding, will install the turf.
FieldTurf will do so at its bid price, $866,672, about $150,000 more than SRI's bid. Maki said the commission also had to pay about $40,000 in legal fees just to get through the process of ending its contract with SRI and hiring FieldTurf.
"We had seen several of the SRI salespeople at a national conference the week prior (to SRI filing for bankruptcy), and there was no inkling at that point," Maki said. "I'm not sure what their company situation is. I believe they are in the process of basically liquidating that business."
At the time it filed for bankruptcy, SRI had more than 300 uncompleted contracts. The company plans to sell two smaller divisions that make sports flooring and equipment for volleyball, gymnastics and basketball, and it will shut down its most well-known operations, for football and baseball turf and running tracks. The how's and why's of the bankruptcy remain a mystery.
AstroTurf, the first artificial surface, was introduced in 1966 in the Astrodome. SRI acquired AstroTurf Industries in 1994 from Balsam Corp., which also filed for bankruptcy. SRI and AstroTurf consolidated to become the world leader in the sports surfaces industry.
Now, legendary NFL broadcaster Pat Summerall is the only voice heard when calling SRI headquarters in Leander. Summerall promotes the company's products on its on-hold message. Otherwise, the phones are not being answered.
In this area, AstroPlay fields were recently installed for the H-E-B and Birdville school districts and Boswell High School. The Birdville and Boswell turfs were completed last summer.
In each case, the school districts have outstanding warranty obligations with SRI; H-E-B's is a ten year warranty. The districts are hoping to secure funds--possibly through the court system--in case the turfs require maintenance during the span of the warranty.
"To be real honest, when you've got people they owe millions of dollars, warranties for these projects are pretty far down the list," Laux said. "When you have a warranty included in your deal, you do want to have somebody you can get in touch with and get them out there to fix it if you do have a need for it."
