JULIE E. GREENE// HERALD MAIL MEDIA // ARTICLE LINK
December 13, 2023
HAGERSTOWN, Md. (DC News Now) — Hagerstown will soon have a brand new field house like no other in Western Maryland. City officials say that although the field house is for everyone, it is mostly geared to the city’s local youth sports teams.
“This indoor sports facility is going to contain basketball courts, which can be converted into volleyball courts which can be converted into futsal courts which can be converted into pickleball courts, and it also has two indoor turf fields,” the President of Eastern Sports Management, John Wack said.
The 114,000 square feet space will have a wide range of space for several sports. It also includes features that can only be found in Hagerstown.
“This is a brand new building with all the latest and greatest technology not only for the flooring systems and the turf, but also the cafe, the various viewing areas, the fitness areas, and lots of features that were not typically included in sports facilities,” Wack explained.
A project like this is not only for its residents but also for its local youth sports teams. Ronnie Walker coaches youth football and says the field house gives sports teams a closer and better option to play sports.
Hagerstown city officials and their partner, Eastern Sports Management, celebrated the official groundbreaking Tuesday of the Hagerstown Field House with about 100 people at the site of the former Municipal Stadium.
“What an exciting day. What an exciting day for us, what an exciting day for the youth to know that we are investing in something like this that will be geared towards, hopefully, a lot of youth prevention and a lot of youth sports,” Mayor Tekesha Martinez said.
Martinez said former mayor Emily Keller “pretty much drove her hot heel in the sand” regarding this project. When Martinez became mayor in February, after Keller took a new job with the state, there was a note on the board listing projects to get done — including the Field House.
Keller, the state’s special secretary for opioid response, said city officials fought for this project.
“What a great thing this is going to be for our city and for our youth, to provide something to do, to provide more sports tourism …,” Keller said.
“We’re experiencing Hagerstown’s renaissance so thank you to everyone who made this happen, and congratulations,” Keller added.
