CCG_Annual Report_2025_web - Flipbook - Page 25
ADDING SPACE AND INFRASTRUCTURE
SPORTS AND WELLNESS COMPLEX
Throughout 2025, the Spor ts and Wellness Complex
remained in a planning and engagement phase, with
a focus on gathering communit y input, refining the
project vision, and advancing preliminar y feasibilit y
considerations.
A communit y meeting was held Januar y 29, 2025, at
the former Sears building at St. Charles Towne Center in
Waldorf, the proposed location of the Sports and Wellness
Complex, as part of the County's official public engagement process. Residents had their first chance to directly
influence the project's overall direction and desired amenities during this meeting. Concurrently, a public survey
was introduced and remained open until mid-February.
With over 2,100 sur vey responses and more than 300
residents at tending the in-person meeting, par ticipation surpassed expectations and demonstrated strong
community interest.
In order to present survey results and gather more input,
follow-up public meetings were conducted in March and
May 2025, both in person and virtually. Staff members
were able to validate and improve important themes that
emerged from the community during these sessions. A
competition-level swimming facility, fitness and wellness
areas, indoor courts, walking and running facilities, and
adaptable spaces for community use were all frequently
mentioned in public feedback. The feedback also showed
widespread support for a phased development strategy
and the adaptive reuse of the former Sears building.
The Commissioners were kept up to date on community
input, planning developments, and new project opportunities and limitations through these briefings.
In December 2025, County staff presented the County
Commissioners with an updated conceptual site plan illustrating potential indoor and outdoor amenities associated
with the Sports and Wellness Complex. At that meeting,
the Commissioners approved a budget transfer request to
fund a market and financial feasibility study. This effort is
intended to complement a separate study being conducted
by the Maryland Stadium Authority relating to the project.
Together, these actions represented a transition from conceptual planning and public engagement toward a more
comprehensive evaluation of market demand, long-term
operational considerations, and overall financial feasibility.
By the conclusion of 2025, the Spor ts and Wellness
Complex project had established a strong foundation of
public engagement, confirmed community demand and
support, and defined a phased development framework
to guide future planning. The project is positioned to proceed into feasibilit y analysis and further refinement in
2026, with continued coordination bet ween staf f and
the County Commissioners to determine scope, funding
strategies, and implementation pathways.
Charles County Government Annual Report • 2025
Based on community input and internal analysis, County
staf f refined the project into a multi-phased development concept and presented this framework to the County
Commissioners during various 2025 updates. In order to
support the development of a larger recreation, cultural,
artistic, and entertainment district around the site, the
phased approach identified an initial phase that would
concentrate on the development of a natatorium within
the existing structure, followed by subsequent phases
that would expand the facility into a larger indoor sports
and wellness complex. The goal of this strategy was to
enable the Count y to respond to communit y priorities
while coordinating scope, funding, and timing.
Staf f gave the Count y Commissioners regular updates
throughout the spring and summer of 2025 that summarized the result s of the public engagement, the
development of the initial concept, and the next steps.
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