Treefort crowds did a number on this Boise park. The price to fix it? Not a small one

Historic turf damage during Treefort Music Fest is on track to be repaired by the end of April, according to a city parks official.

It will come with a historic price tag.

The cost to replace grass trampled March 22-26 at Julia Davis Park will be $41,010, said Doug Holloway, Boise Parks and Recreation director.

Treefort – which will pay for it – plans to return to the park next spring.

Nobody should be surprised by the cost, Holloway said.

“It wasn’t shocking to us. And I don’t think it’s shocking to them.”

“We have not experienced any other special-event mitigation repairs similar to this year’s Treefort,” he previously told the Statesman.

In drier, warmer months, other major parks events damage turf – but to a lesser extent. Each year at Simplot Sports Complex, the U.S. Youth Soccer Far West Regional Championships averages about $3,000 in mitigation, Holloway said. The Spirit of Boise Balloon Classic required about $2,600 last year (and significantly less in other years).

The length of Treefort, the number of festivalgoers and rainy March weather created a “perfect storm,” Holloway said. Heavy foot-traffic zones near the Main Stage and Alefort beer tent turned grass into mud.

Paying for turf repair was part of Treefort organizers’ agreement with the city in addition to park rental, which cost $15,000. They also agreed to give 12% of alcohol sales to the city: $44,815.68, which has been earmarked for a project to rebuild the Rose Garden at Julia Davis Park.

“They’re an amazing partner,” Holloway said earlier this week.

After soliciting bids, the city will use an outside contractor to fix the turf. Laying 0.21 acres of sod will cost $11,611 and is slated to occur next week, Holloway said. Overseeding 5.16 acres is priced at $29,399. That should happen by the end of the month, he said.

The 11th iteration of Treefort was the biggest-attended yet, co-founder Eric Gilbert said. Reshuffling after a decade, the festival relocated its heart to Julia Davis Park, 700 S. Capitol Blvd. – and not only because there’s more space. Treefort’s longtime hub at 12th and Grove streets is being turned into apartments, which caused the Main Stage, Alefort and other attractions to move.

Treefort featured more than 500 acts rocking venues across downtown Boise. Attendance at the park alone averaged about 12,000 people per day, Gilbert said – except on Saturday, when it climbed closer to 20,000.

Gilbert said early estimates are that Treefort had an economic impact of more than $8 million on the local economy.

Treefort lured 30,000 unique attendees over its five days, according to organizers, an increase of 5,000 from last year’s festival. The average daily attendance was 15,000, with Saturday seeing nearly 23,000.

Whatever the damage to Julia Davis Park, the turf can be fixed, Holloway said. In the short time since the festival ended, conditions have improved naturally, he said.

“There’s already some grasses popping up where the mud was,” he said. “The areas that were the worst are now basically dirt, but not anything that we did not think that we would see at the end of the day.

“Just from Monday to now, there’s been some rejuvenation already that’s occurring. That speaks to some of the mitigating measures that were taken to prepare the park for something like this. … More importantly, I think it speaks to the work that our team does year-round in really maintaining a first-class park, or else it wouldn’t bounce back like that.”