Tuesday 5 June will be day 40 of the returf and drainage project which is set down to take a total of 80 working days to complete.Mayor Bill Dalton, who was on hand to turn the sod on day one, says he’s happy with progress so far. “Despite a few days of adverse weather, and the challenges that presents, our contractors are working really hard to get the job done on time. It’s going to be a very different park when it’s ready for our contractors to hand back to Council in another 40 days or so.”Work completed thus far on the project includes the removal of 450mm of material (much of which has been recycled along State Highway 2 just south of the city, where some groundwork was required) – a total of 8,000m3 of solid, or 11,000m3 of loose soil.Peripheral stormwater mains have been built and drainage work is underway. The drop-in wicket area of the park has been placed, there is seed planted, and the building of a pump shed has also commenced.NCC Director Infrastructure Jon Kingsford says that right now, 5,000m3 of high-grade sand is being mixed, ready for use on the park. “The next steps include the laying of bidim material, placing draining metal and irrigation infrastructure, and installing the goal posts. Our turf, which is being grown at a specialist farm near Auckland, is looking lush and should be ready to be harvested and trucked to Napier in July.”A Mitre 10 Cup match is the first sporting fixture programmed to take place at McLean Park - Hawke’s Bay v Counties Manukau, on 2 September.