By Garrett Dvorkin | Baltimore Business Journal
A local youth sports giant will invest $8 million to transform an abandoned high school into a soccer academy that could help Baltimore produce more professional soccer players.
Coppermine Health and Fitness plans to build a 40,000-square-foot soccer academy on the former Cardinal Gibbons School campus in Southwest Baltimore that will serve as the organization’s soccer headquarters.
The youth sports and gym company operates 21 facilities in the region and decided to invest in soccer after moving its youth soccer teams to the MLS NEXT Allstate Homegrown Division, the highest level of youth soccer in the country. Coppermine hopes the facility will be up and running by summer 2027.
“We have had soccer here at Coppermine for 15 years, and we have seen kids progress from our teams to other elite clubs,” Coppermine founder Alex Jacobs said. “Now that we can offer them the opportunity to play in the MLS Homegrown Division, it gives a clear pathway for local kids to make it into the MLS system and play professionally.”
Coppermine’s plan is somewhat similar, though on a smaller scale, to D.C. United’s proposal for a soccer complex located a mile down the road in Carroll Park. The MLS team, in partnership with basketball star and Baltimore native Carmelo Anthony, wants to build a $200 million, 7,500-seat publicly-funded stadium on land that is currently a city-run golf course. D.C. United has also committed to spending $100 million to build a 40,000-square-foot soccer academy as part of the development.
While the D.C United project could take years to secure financing, Coppermine’s project is already going through the permit process. Plans call for turning the existing 30,000-square-foot school building into space for classrooms, offices and specialty areas like film rooms.
Coppermine would also renovate the former gymnasium to create a 10,000-square-foot “indoor performance center,” equipped with weight rooms and strength and conditioning facilities. Three new turf fields and an extra 250 parking spots would be added to the campus to accommodate the increased activity.
The centerpiece of the development would be the transformation of Babe Ruth Field at Cardinal Gibbons, which is currently managed by Coppermine. Jacobs said the plan is to build the field into a stadium that can hold around 1,000 people. There are also plans to add a more permanent concessions area to the stadium.
Youth soccer is a big business for Coppermine. Jacobs said soccer is the company’s largest youth sport, with about 1,200 kids in its club program spread out on 70 different teams. Coppermine also has another 500 players in its lower-level rec leagues.
The soccer academy will finally decide the fate of a large part of Cardinal Gibbons’ campus, which has sat mostly vacant since the school closed in 2010. Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital purchased the land in 2012 for $9.6 million, with plans to build a massive development on the site. The hospital developed part of the parcel, including the Bon Secours Gibbons Apartments and the turf field named after Babe Ruth, but never fully realized the vision.
The soccer academy will finally decide the fate of a large part of Cardinal Gibbons’ campus, which has sat mostly vacant since the school closed in 2010. Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital purchased the land in 2012 for $9.6 million, with plans to build a massive development on the site. The hospital developed part of the parcel, including the Bon Secours Gibbons Apartments and the turf field named after Babe Ruth, but never fully realized the vision.
Coppermine will lease the land from Saint Agnes, with an option to buy. Representatives for the hospital declined to share any more information about the project.
Photo Credit: Garrett Dvorkin/BBJ