By Rajwa Quasim
The Frederick City Council has approved rezoning of 24 acres of land to make way for a proposed cricket stadium. Last week, the seven-member council voted 5-1 with one member absent to rezone the Gateway property.
Council President César Díaz, Council Vice President Katie Nash and Council Members Derek Shackelford, Peter Brehm and Sarah Hempel Irani voted in favor, meanwhile Council Member Joe Adkins voted against the project and Council Member Libby Taylor was absent at the meeting. Adkins expressed that he supports the stadium project but was concerned about the conditions attached.
The city officials estimate that the proposed stadium project could generate around $2 million in tax and attract 100,000 visitors. The stadium would have a seating capacity of 10,000 people with 5,000 fixed seats and room for another 5,000 spectators. The site is situated along the eastern edge of the city between Route 144 and Interstate 70. Currently, the plot is a golf driving range. The project was proposed by The Washington Freedom, a cricket team. The team won the 2024 Major League cricket Championship.
READ: Major League Cricket returns amid America’s Olympic push (June 17, 2026)
Council Member Peter Brehm said the rezoning approval does not mean the stadium project is a done deal. The plan must be reviewed by the city’s Planning Commission. Brehm expressed concerns regarding traffic and flooding as the project in a floodplain. “We’re not going to know what we don’t know until after that traffic engineering study is done,” Brehm said. Regarding the floodplain issue, approval must come from the Maryland Department of the Environment.
The stadium is expected to operate primarily between the month of April-October and during the offseason; the venue can be used for other sports and community events such as music performances, music festivals, and convocation ceremonies.
The proposed site is expected to have about 500 parking spaces, raising questions about whether that would be enough during major events that could attract thousands. Organizers plan to use shuttle buses to transport visitors from surrounding communities. Planned shuttle buses might not be enough to ferry the estimated crowd, organizers worry, concerned about whether the city could handle the load with planned hotel, convention center and various housing projects.
Meanwhile, professional cricket player Abi Prakash told the council that a dedicated stadium would give young players a chance to see a future in sport without the need to travel long distances for training and competition. He said, “That is a dream come true for me, and the players in the community as well, and for cricket as a sport in the county today. This’ll be an opportunity for me to bring all my friends from other communities, to enjoy a glass of beer and a game of cricket in the evenings.”
According to the local resident Laura Gibbs, the project was being partially built on a recognized flood plain questioning the talks on rezoning when the Department of Environment has not even issued a permit.