Ocean City to take lead on sports complex, create task force

City Manager Terry McGean said council members and Mayor Rick Meehan discussed the project and a recent Maryland Stadium Authority study on the feasibility of building a complex on a roughly 100-acre site near Stephen Decatur High School at a work session Tuesday.

Members of the stadium authority and representatives from consulting firm Crossroad Consultants presented results of the study to elected officials from the city, county and Berlin at a public meeting on April 27. City officials requested the informational meeting — the only one held since the stadium authority released the study in December — and Tuesday was the first time the mayor and council publicly discussed the details.

McGean said Meehan, who has been a vocal advocate for a county sports complex since its inception, will take the reins on heading the task force. Council members also agreed to direct the new group to look at other options for the project.

“I think the consensus seemed to be to look at other [sites], not just look at this same location but to explore other alternatives as well,” McGean said.

Council members’ decision to take the lead on the project brings new life to it after plans died at the county level in a majority vote by the Worcester County Commissioners.

The 4-3 vote reflected the results of a November referendum in which county voters shot down a request to buy bonds to purchase the land at the proposed site off of Route 50. When the commissioners followed with their vote, the project pretty much died until city officials stepped in.

Members of the future task force will evaluate the scope, location and potential funding sources.

It is unknown at this time how much money would be needed for land for a complex or where the cash would come from. The study, however, said the state could fund 80 percent of the estimated more than $153.5 million cost for construction of both indoor and outdoor sports facilities.

The cost estimate does not include the land purchase, which city officials have already considered.

In the fiscal 2024 budget, which goes into effect July 1, money was allocated for a land purchase for a sports complex. The line item was ultimately removed, but kept alive with a “placeholder” in fiscal 2025.

According to the study, the proposed Route 50 location could accommodate the complex, and would support about 1,000 jobs, 100,000 new room nights a year in Ocean City and Worcester County, and roughly $10 million in tax revenue — $2 million local and $8 million state tax revenue annually.

The site plan for the complex — at the proposed site near SDHS — calls for 10 rectangular outdoor fields, several of which can also be used as baseball or softball diamonds; a 125,000 square-foot indoor fieldhouse with 10 basketball courts or 20 volleyball courts; and 20,000 square feet of indoor expansion space. Plans also call for a tournament central area, parking, a playground, and support spaces. There is also room for future expansion areas.

This story appears in the June 2, 2023 print edition of the OC Today.