The Board of Commissioners for St. Mary’s County hosted a Groundbreaking Ceremony for the construction of Chaptico Park on Tuesday, June 3, 2003. The Commissioners are pleased to announce that construction of the new park on Route 234 between Chaptico and Wicomico Shores is officially underway.
“Chaptico Park will help alleviate the over use of fields and congestion currently being experienced at Fifth District Park, said Thomas F. McKay, President, Board of Commissioners. In addition to benefiting hundreds of youth soccer participants, the new park also provides Southern Maryland BMX, Inc. with a long-awaited site for their non-motorized bicycle track.”
The 250-acre “regional park” is intended to serve a diverse population and recreational needs and is proposed to be developed over several years. Phase I provides necessary roads, parking and infrastructure as well as the development of a nine-field soccer complex. Fields of various sizes are geared towards differing age groups. Soccer fields will be seeded this fall and the park will open in fall 2004. In the center of the soccer complex is a multi-purpose building that includes a restroom and concession facility. The BMX track, funded, constructed and operated by the non-profit BMX group, will also be included as part of phase I development.
Later phases of park development may include horseback riding rings, trails, picnic areas, playground, pavilions, tennis courts, basketball courts and additional athletic fields. Other items identified in the master plan for possible future phases of development include a recreational pond, an indoor recreation center, swimming pool, baseball fields, irrigation, a maintenance building and asphalt roads and parking. Future phases of park development will be scheduled in later years as funding permits.