Queen Anne's County Is Asking What a Sports Complex Should Hold. Its Last Big Field Plan Is a Useful Guide.

Years ago, Queen Anne's County held a public meeting about putting ten playing fields on a county-owned farm in Stevensville. The commissioner who served as liaison to the parks office told the room that tournaments were not the point. "Tournaments do bring revenue into the county but they are also destructive to the peace of the communities," Commissioner Steve Wilson said, as the Bay Times reported. "Basically they're for the kids in the county."

The county's newest field study takes the opposite starting point. On October 29, Queen Anne's County announced a feasibility study for a multi-sport tourism facility. The county says the study will look at how new facilities "could improve quality of life for our residents while attracting regional tournaments, generating visitor spending, and supporting local businesses." Tournaments are the premise this time. Two evening sessions next week give residents their first public chance to shape what follows.

The Tourism Office Is Running This One

The department leading the study is a good clue to its purpose. The earlier field plans came out of Parks and Recreation. This study belongs to the Department of Economic and Tourism Development. Director Heather Tinelli sent commissioners an action memo dated August 11, 2026 asking to award the contract.

It took about a year to choose a firm. The county received 13 statements of qualifications on August 20, 2025, and invited five firms to submit proposals. Four proposals arrived on February 27, 2026. A review committee interviewed the firms in July and unanimously ranked Kemper Sports first "based upon experience and price."

The top-ranked firm was also the cheapest by a wide margin. Kemper's bid was less than half of JLL Global's, the second-ranked proposal. The August 11 meeting minutes show the commissioners approved the $45,000 award unanimously. Commissioner Christopher Corchiarino made the motion and Commissioner Philip Dumenil seconded it.

What the Study Is Built to Answer

The concept under study is large. It includes multi-purpose fields for sports such as soccer and lacrosse, baseball and softball fields, a possible outdoor baseball stadium, a mountain bike skills park, concessions, and family gathering spaces. The county says the study will:

1. Identify the facility components best suited to community needs and sports tourism opportunities.
2. Evaluate potential locations, acreage requirements, and development considerations.
3. Estimate construction costs and long-term operating performance.
4. Assess potential economic and community benefits.
5. Recommend partnership, governance, and operating approaches.

The second item covers location, and location is where the county's earlier field plan ran into trouble. The county has been clear that it has not chosen anything yet. In its words, "No final determination has been made regarding the development, location or funding of a multi-sport facility." Community feedback will be weighed alongside market research, financial analysis, and site evaluations.

What Came Up the Last Time Fields Were Proposed

Davidson Park was planned for the end of Benton Road in Stevensville. The site is 94.52 acres of county-owned land that the county bought in 2007 with county and Program Open Space money. The plan called for ten unlit multi-purpose fields, a concession stand, restrooms, and parking. Then-parks director Chip Price explained the need at the March 14 meeting at the Percy Thomas Senior Center. "The county supplied playing courts and fields for about 297 athletic teams," he said, and demand for more fields was growing.

The land itself limited the plan. Of the nearly 95 acres, 64 sit in the Critical Area resource conservation area. The design kept a 300-foot buffer along the tidal headwaters of Cox Creek, which is more than the 200 feet required.

According to the Bay Times account, the public's concerns clustered around several issues:

• Parking. County maps showed 750 spaces, and staff agreed more would be needed. Speakers worried that tournament-day overflow would spill onto nearby residential streets.
• Traffic and access. The fields sat at the end of a one-way road, which raised questions about emergency access on a full game day.
• Drainage. Neighboring landowners on the west side said their properties drain across the farm. The parks director said the county would deal with any drainage issues on its own property.

The plan shrank after that. A later Bay Times report on the revised plans said the first phase dropped from ten fields to five after concerns were raised. The same report said development had already been put on hold in 2011 because of budget limits. On June 14, 2022, commissioners unanimously approved a budget amendment that took $119,919 in Program Open Space funding out of the Davidson Park project, according to the meeting minutes.

Even a plan meant mainly for county teams, with tournaments only "now and again," ran into parking, road access, and drainage issues at its proposed site. A facility built to draw regional tournaments will face those same issues at a larger scale, wherever it goes.

Recreation Money Already in the County's Capital Plan

The tourism study is starting while parks projects already have money set aside in the capital plan. Commissioners adopted the FY2027 budget on June 9, 2026. The approved six-year capital plan lists several parks lines that relate to the questions the Kemper study will ask. These are amounts the plan schedules for each year, not money that has been spent.

The Recreation Center line goes back to a separate study. On October 22, 2024, Parks and Recreation and consultant BerryDunn presented findings for what would be the county's first indoor recreation center. That study narrowed four possible sites to two, Davidson Farm Park in Stevensville and the Kudner Property in Queenstown. It sketched a 38,250-square-foot building with a two-court gymnasium. As of that 2024 presentation, estimated capital costs were $24,321,068 at Davidson and $23,999,474 at Kudner, according to the Bay Times. The 2024 floor plan also left room for features the public had asked about, including a future aquatic center, an indoor turf field, and an ice arena.

The two efforts run on different tracks. A parks study produced the indoor center, which now has its own line in the capital plan, while the tourism office's outdoor complex is still at the exploratory stage. Fields for local teams and fields for visiting teams can look the same on a site map, and the people speaking at next week's sessions will help decide which one this becomes.

For a sense of the current baseline, Old Love Point Park in Stevensville covers 30.5 acres. It has two lighted baseball and softball diamonds plus two more, soccer and lacrosse fields, courts, a concession stand, and trail access. The concept under study would add a possible stadium and a mountain bike skills park, so it reaches well beyond a park of that size.

Two Evenings, One in Centreville and One in Chester

The county is inviting athletes, coaches, sports organizations, and other community members to these sessions:

• Tuesday, November 10, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. at the Kramer Center, 104 Powell St., Centreville
• Wednesday, November 11, 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. in the Barrett Room, 425 Piney Narrows Road, Chester

The county says the sessions will cover existing facilities, gaps, possible amenities, and how a multi-sport facility could serve the community. It also says an online survey will be released in the coming weeks for anyone who cannot attend.

The Davidson Park meetings suggest some useful questions to bring:

• How many tournament weekends a year would the facility be designed for, and how many hours would it be reserved for county teams?
• What parking ratio is the study assuming, and what is the plan for overflow on peak days?
• How would site selection weigh road access, drainage, and Critical Area limits?
• How would an outdoor complex fit with the Recreation Center and artificial turf money already in the capital plan?
• Which local trail users would help design a mountain bike skills park?

Shawn grew up on the Eastern Shore and knows how a single access road, a drainage pattern, or a busy Saturday can change how a property works for the people next to it. If you own land or a home near any site that comes up in this study, Shawn Moore and Meagan Moore are glad to go over what the county's choices could mean for your property, and to keep you posted as the study moves from public sessions to site evaluations.