BERLIN, Md. - The Town of Ocean City held a Mayor & City Council meeting Tuesday, unanimously approving a recommendation to purchase nearly 198 acres to serve as the proposed sports complex.
In Tuesday's meeting, the town discussed an update on property acquisition for the sports complex. The facility is expected to help boost local tourism outside the busy summer season and bring more year-round jobs to the area.
The proposed location is located under 20 minutes away from downtown Ocean City, and just north of Route 50 outside of the Berlin town limits. (Town of Ocean City)
Director of Tourism and Business Development Tom Perlozzo led the proposal, recommending that the town purchase the piece of land, currently known as Harrison's Farm LLC, for $8.7 million. That recommendation was approved unanimously by the council.
From that $8.7 million, Perlozzo says not a cent will be funded by Ocean City property tax. Instead, it's intended to be funded by room tax and participation from the Maryland Stadium Authority.
Perlozzo also says the land will be able to handle parking and is accessible to major roads.
Susan Jones, Executive Director of the Hotel Motel Restaurant Association, says that Ocean City needs to be able to compete with neighboring coastal towns when it comes to having sports destinations. Jones cited DE Turf in Frederica, Delaware.
In October of 2025, City Manager Terry McGean shared that the town had surveyed more than 130 possible locations for the facility, which would feature indoor courts, outdoor fields, and the potential to host tournaments year-round.
In February of 2026, the town collaborated with the Town of Berlin as well as the Maryland Stadium Authority to hold a Community Information Session. That meeting was quickly taken over by frustrated Berlin residents, expressing their opposition to the proposed complex that was designed to land next to Stephen Decatur High School.
During that meeting, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan said that the nearly 100-acre site was not a site that has been made official as the spot for the complex, but a spot they have deemed to be favorable. Shortly after that, officials with the Town of Berlin asked Ocean City leaders to remove this site from consideration.
Adam Chandler is all for a complex in the area, as Bayside Park is one of the only places near him where he can go to play.
"Yeah definitely. I feel like that would be a lot of fun," Chandler says. "I wouldn't want to travel like 30 minutes down the road just to like go like shoot around and stuff like I wanna have somewhere convenient I could just like walk to."
Ocean City property owner Aron Majic says when it comes to building large complexes like this, there are legitimate concerns that can come alongside it. However, Majic says as long as organizers and developers work together, those concerns will be minimized.
"It will cause some heavy traffic at times," Majic tells CoastTV. "You need to have somebody in charge that's familiar with that, maybe even part of a travel or recreational league that way they work closely with all the coaches to give times so that everybody has equal shares of time and then doesn't feel left out or something like that."
The proposal will see its first reading during the Aug. 17 Mayor and City Council meeting.
