Construction of a combination baseball/cricket stadium on the underdeveloped western side of George Mason University’s Fairfax County campus could prove a win-win for the university and the professional sports team that aims to occupy it.
Or a win-win-win, if amenities for the surrounding community are factored in.
Officials with the university and Major League Cricket’s Washington Freedom team outlined ongoing plans and timelines during a Jan. 29 town-hall meeting.
Their presentation was upbeat.
“This has the potential to be transformational,” said Marvin Lewis, George Mason’s newish athletic director.
The university’s baseball team currently competes in the 900-seat Spuhler Field, which since its debut in the mid-1980s has seen only limited additional investment. One example: Dugouts didn’t make an appearance until 2016.
“The facility is missing two key items – we’re missing a video board and we’re missing lights,” Lewis said, suggesting that a bigger, modern baseball stadium would be “critical” to aid recruiting of both athletes and staff.
(Even with the minimalistic facilities, the team – initially competing in the Colonial Athletic Association and now in the Atlantic 10 – has had success, including multiple NCAA-tournament appearances, nearly 50 student-athletes selected in the Major League Baseball draft and five currently playing in the Major League system.)
Sanjay Govil, a tech entrepreneur and owner of Washington affiliate in the year-old Major League Cricket circuit, said that while this might be the first baseball-cricket combo stadium anywhere, there are ways to make it work seamlessly.
“It was a no-brainer for us,” Govil said of teaming up with the university.
The six-team cricket league plays its matches in the summer months, with George Mason baseball needing field access in autumn and spring. The proposed facility would include fixed seats plus a low berm for additional seating, and would have VIP seating and hospitality facilities.
The stadium proposal is part of a larger initiative to develop the 190-acre western portion of Mason’s Fairfax campus.
Jackie Ferree, senior vice president of operations and business services (and like Lewis a relative newcomer to the university), said the stadium partnership could unlock “wonderful benefits,” but acknowledged community concerns about adding more facilities to the university’s original campus.
“Event planning and logistics have been at the forefront” of the process, Ferree said of developing the proposal, with the goal of “ensuring the least amount of disruption” to the lives of students, staff and neighbors.
For link to the proposal, including the Jan. 29 online town-hall meeting, see the Website at https://construction.gmu.edu/west-campus-planning.
