A proposal to build an indoor baseball facility in Cabin John Regional Park was withdrawn by the developer, Montgomery Lane, LLC.
Montgomery Lane responded to a county “Request for Proposals” to build such a facility on county land.
The concept of such a facility may not be dead, however.
“They indicated they would be working with the county to look at other locations,” said Terry Brooks of Park and Planning.
The $1.8 million facility would have been approximately 24,000 square feet and would have displaced a handball court and volleyball pit at the park. It would have allowed for year-round training for baseball and softball players.
The initial Request for Proposals had identified another possible location for the facility in Olney. Brooks said that the options are limited to the land owned by the parks department.
“The concept isn’t dead, said Mimi Brodsky-Kress of Montgomery Lane. “I don’t think, at this point, it was going to get approved at that site.”
The county would have entered into a public-private partnership with the developer to build the facility, whose primary tenant would have been B-CC Baseball.
Representatives from B-CC Baseball did not return the Almanac’s calls for comment.
The developer still hopes to enter into a partnership and develop a facility, somewhere in the lower Montgomery County area. “To do a strictly private venture and find a site would be very difficult,” said Brodsky-Kress
Residents of the condominium complex which would have abutted and overlooked the facility were happy that the proposal was withdrawn.
They are concerned that the developer may attempt to re-introduce the idea.
“I think we’ll need to keep an eye on them to make sure they won’t come back in six months, a year, two years,” said Dorian Delaney, a resident of the complex who led the fight against the facility.