Major League Lacrosse
Bayhawks are planning 10,000-seat stadium
$40 million multiuse facility in Crownsville would be first specifically for MLL team
Officials with the Chesapeake Bayhawks have talked for years about building a stadium designed for the Major League Lacrosse franchise.
That proposal got clearer this week: a $40?million, 10,000-seat stadium on the grounds of the former Crownsville Hospital Center.
Brendan Kelly, owner of the Annapolis-based professional lacrosse organization, founded the Chesapeake Sports and Entertainment Group to serve as developer of the project, which would entail a three-story building of five locker rooms on the ground floor, a multiuse event facility on the second floor and office space on the third floor.
“This would be the first stadium built specifically for a Major League Lacrosse team,” Bayhawks president Mark Burdett said. “However, we envision hosting other events that would best fit a stadium of this size.”
Burdett said the Bayhawks are hoping to join forces with the Maryland Stadium Authority in a public-private partnership. The Stadium Authority would issue bonds backed by the state to private investors. The Bayhawks, as primary tenant of the stadium, would pay back the bonds over time, Burdett said.
Michael Frenz, executive director of the Maryland Stadium Authority, said the authority would first need to study market demand and economic impact. Such a study requires a written request from a CEO of a state agency or municipality, he said. That request would also identify the entity responsible for paying for the study. No such request has been made, Frenz said Thursday.
The Crownsville Hospital Center property, 900 acres between Generals Highway and Interstate 97, closed more than a decade ago and has been vacant ever since. It is owned by the state of Maryland and costs more than $1?million for maintenance and security.
“What better way to bring back a dormant piece of property than through athletics,” Kelly said. “We’re going to bring life back to this property by holding sporting events for people of all ages. It will be a recreation environment that will benefit everyone in the area.”
Burdett said Gov. Larry Hogan has been briefed on the stadium project and supports it. The governor’s office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
“Right now, the state is making no money on the property and spending roughly $1?million for upkeep,” Burdett said. “We estimate that we would pay more than $1?million per year in rent and taxes.”
Burdett said the Bayhawks would sell naming rights to the stadium and host events such as the NCAA Division I women’s lacrosse championships and high school graduations. Details of the project were first reported Wednesday by the Baltimore Business Journal.
Burdett and Kelly plan to meet with Frenz and other Maryland Stadium Authority officials today. Burdett said the Chesapeake Sports and Entertainment Group needs only a memorandum of understanding and a lease to move forward.
This marks the 17th year for the Bayhawks, one of the league’s original franchises. The organization was based in Baltimore and Washington before moving to Annapolis in 2010 after being bought by Kelly.
Kelly, a lifelong Annapolis resident who has rejected offers to move the Bayhawks to northern Virginia, said the Bayhawks have been working with the state of Maryland for several years to find a permanent home for the team.
The Bayhawks play home games at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, which has a capacity of 34,000.
Building the stadium, which would occupy 250 acres and include parking for 5,000 cars, would be the first phase. A second phase would consist of 24 full-length fields and cost approximately $24 million along with an indoor arena, Burdett said. A hotel would be added to bring the cost to between $90 million and $100 million.