Charles Commissioners agree to another $1.5 million for stadium

La Plata - 5/24/2007

By Staff Writer Anna Dailey

If all goes according to plan, even though it hasn’t thus far, the multi-use sports and entertainment project which Charles County has been planning for three years will finally break ground mid-summer. 

Artistic rendering of the planned Waldorf stadium.

The county’s portion of the bill will be $8.5 million, $1.5 million more than the previous board of commissioners agreed to spend on the project. Even though the bid is $4.65 million over the stadium's orginial $21 million budget, the commissioners enthusiastically voted to accept it and move forward with the project.

The Stadium will host the minor league Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, one of eight teams in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball Clubs.  Maryland Baseball LLC will own the team and front one third of the cost of the stadium project.  The owners have guaranteed the county a minimum revenue of about half the expected annual bond payment.  Until the project bond is paid off, Maryland Baseball will also take responsibility for any capital repairs in addition to regular maintenance. 

The state has committed to funding the final third of the project. Commissioner Gary V. Hodge (D) explained that the Maryland General Assembly, in three separate sessions, solidly continued to support this project through two governors, two assemblies, a myriad of sub-committees and three different boards of commissioners. Hodge expressed his appreciation for the non-partisan support the county has continually received from the State for this project.

Even though it’s only funding one third of total cost, the completed stadium will be the sole property of Charles County. As such, the County has control over the building’s after baseball hours and off-season usage. This is the biggest and most secure difference between the Charles County project and other minor league ball parks, like the Bowie stadium. 

The commissioners envision the sports and entertainment complex acting as a community center of a sort.  The field will host a variety of local sports at all levels; it can also hold an ice rink in winter. Multi purpose rooms and public areas inside the building can offer a venue for an enormous variety of events: seminars, art and craft shows, private parties, 4-H events, and non-profit events. Beall even mentioned that the stadium seating can be altered to accommodate a ski slope in the winter.

Commissioner Reuben B. Collins II (D) explained, “There are no limitations on how we can use this stadium.  …that’s what makes this project [so] potentially prosperous.”

Hodge agreed, saying, “We’re only limited by our imaginations."

Once the ground-breaking ceremony is held in late June or early July, Skanska estimates it will need a year to finish the project completely. However, the venue can be used before it’s complete.

County Press Secretary George Clarkson wrote that “the complex may be available for use for non-baseball events in the winter of 2007-08, and baseball in the stadium would start in May or June of 2008.”

Just in time to factor into the County’s 350th anniversary celebrations.

The 43-acre site is located on Piney Church Road, south of Waldorf, close to Route 301 and Maryland Route 5. Neal Elementary, which is now under construction; the new county high school currently in planning; and a proposed College of Southern Maryland athletic complex will be nearby. 

The site, with an appraised value of $1.5 million, was donated to Charles County by American Community Properties Trust (ACPT) the developer of the St. Charles neighborhoods. The land was transferred to the county in 2006. There are no established neighborhoods in the immediate vicinity of the site, and the project offers the environmental benefit of reclaiming a former gravel mining site.

A technical engineering evaluation of the location has been completed to include road and infrastructure improvements.  ACPT has agreed to widen Piney Church Road in preparation for the complex and is already expanding Billingsly Road. Completion of such improvements will coincide with the completion of the entertainment complex. According to the County, water and sewer services to the facility are already designed and ready for construction.

Amenities

The structure will include a 4,500 seat multi-functional entertainment complex and stadium.  Baseball, football, soccer, lacrosse and other sports can be played on the field.  In the winter the field can host an ice skating rink and the stadium seating can be altered to provide slopes for skiing. 

In addition to the seating, there will be grassy overflow areas beyond the outfield where patrons can enjoy games on blankets or in lawn chairs. The facility will also have an extensive playground and picnic grounds. Inside, the facility will hold sixteen "skyboxes" and several multi-function rooms which can be partitioned off to accommodate 50-100 people. There will be food concessions throughout the facility.

As an entertainment complex, the facility can accommodate concerts, movie nights on the big-screen scoreboard, jamborees, and non-musical events such as car shows, seminars, and arts & craft shows.

At the February meeting of the County Fire and Rescue Board, local fire chief Dan Stevens expressed unidentified concerns with the layout of the firefighting features.  However, the State Fire Marshall must approve the design before construction begins.

At Wednesday’s Board of Commissioners meeting, Commissioner Sam Graves asked Capital Projects Director Chuck Beall if any of the cost saving design changes from the first plan to this one would lessen public safety in any way.  Beall assured the board that, no, the changes did not adversely affect the safety features of the building.

Costs 

In order to bring the cost of the project down from the initial bid of $32 million, the County Department of Planning and Growth Management enlisted the help of the Maryland Stadium Authority during the re-design and re-bidding process.  The final plan shaved nearly $6 million by moving eight of the sixteen sky boxes to ground level, eliminating a second floor concession stand, eliminating one elevator, and reducing additional small decorative elements. 

Planners also lowered the level of the field to eliminate the need for stairs and a ramp to access it as well as additional earth to build it up. Beall confidently stated that the cost savings didn’t "cheapen" the stadium. It will still be a safe, quality building. 

Commissioners Vice President Edith Patterson asked Beall to describe how this project is different from other communities’ stadium projects. Many County residents object to the use of county tax money on a potential revenue drain like the languishing Bowie Bay Sox Stadium. Beall explained that biggest difference is that the county will own 100 percent of the finished complex.  In addition to all the off-season, alternative event rental fees, the county will also receive a portion of the sports revenue with Maryland Baseball guaranteeing them a preset minimum. 

Commissioners President F. Wayne Cooper (D)insisted that the complex is designed to pay for itself and in the future, grow to fund other county projects.

Commissioner Collins asked what measures are in place to ensure costs don’t increase out of control during construction. County Attorney Roger Fink explained that Skanska’s bid price is a "not to exceed price" with $1 million padded in just to account for unexpected inflation costs just in case. Fink said he thinks the project could very well come in under budget.

To contact Anna Dailey about Charles County issues email annadailey@thebaynet.com.
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