New Elements Added to Proposed Annapolis Sports-Oriented Development
A former psychiatric hospital near Annapolis, Md. could become the new home of the Major League Lacrosse's Chesapeake Bayhawks.
Image courtesy Chesapeake Sports & Entertainment Group
The first step toward transforming a closed 900-acre psychiatric hospital site near Annapolis, Md., into a sports and entertainment complex could begin as early as next year, under a plan presented by Mark Burdett, owner of the Major Lacrosse League’s Chesapeake Bayhawks.
Estimated to cost between $170 million and $190 million, the plan would create a 10,000-seat stadium designed specifically for the Annapolis-based lacrosse team, which currently plays its matches at the U.S. Naval Academy’s 34,000-seat football stadium. While lacrosse has a strong following in Maryland, Burdett says the venue is far too large for the team’s needs.
Other elements of the development, to be known as Chesapeake Bayhawks Village, include 20 sports fields, retail, restaurants, a hotel and a hotel.
Because more than 60 former hospital building must first be demolished, Burdett has proposed jump-starting the project in 2018 by building a 6,000-seat multi-purpose amphitheater at the nearby Anne Arundel County fairgrounds. Estimated to cost between $30 million and $40 million, the venue would serve as a temporary home for the Bayhawks until the permanent stadium is ready. It would also host a variety of other events, including concerts.
The first facilities planned for the former hospital site would be athletics fields for use by adult and youth sports groups and a museum dedicated to the hospital’s history. The final phase would add the Bayhawks’ stadium and other features of the development. A new interchange with I-97 would support the additional traffic generated by the complex.
Burdett says funding for all phases would come via a partnership between the state of Maryland, which owns both properties, the Bayhawks and the Maryland Stadium Authority. All phases could be complete as early as 2022.
