Manassas leaders made clear that the E.G. Smith Baseball Complex, the land owned by the city where children come to play baseball and softball, is not for sale.
But, if someone wanted to buy it and build something that would bring thousands of jobs to the city, leaders wouldn’t hesitate to sell the property. The 18-acre site at the corner of Godwin Drive and Route 28 on the edge of the city has been on the Real Estate market for 20 years.
It’s located next to the computer chip-maker Micron Technologies, which is in the process of a $3 billion expansion, that will bring 1,100 skilled jobs to the city. The Greater Manassas Baseball League, which manages the baseball complex, says they’ve heard rumors of a new buyer for the 18-acre site.
“There are no offers on the table,” said Councilman Mark Wolfe, who is also the chairman of the city council’s land-use committee. “There is a lot of noise [in the community] and a lot of conversations.”
That came as welcome news to Colby Poteat, the baseball league president, who said area businesses who had volunteered to help the non-profit improve and maintain the fields, out of nowhere, retracted their offers of help because they were convinced the land will be developed.
On Monday night, Poteat walked out of a joint meeting of the City Council and his baseball league with a sense of relief. With hope, the two organizations will continue to work together as they have since the baseball league took over the property in 1980.
“I think we can work together,” said Poteat. “The purpose of the meeting was to try to find out if we were part of the city’s future, and to let [the City Council] know more about our league, and to make sure there is a plan in the event the land is going to be sold. We don’t want to be left in the dark.”
Earlier this year, two of the eight fields at the E.G. Smith complex were paved over and turned into parking lots to be used by Micron employees during the day and by the baseball league on nights and weekends. Micron paid to develop the lots. The city retained ownership of the property. The new lots helped solve ongoing, overflowing parking problems during games as some attendees were parking on grassy areas.
Poteat says that his league can continue to play at the complex even if it continued to lose fields.
“It hurts to take away fields, but it just means the older kids will play under the lights more, the days will be longer, and it’ll be more expensive,’ said Poteat, who added it costs $38,000 per year to keep the lights on at ballpark.
Elizabeth Via-Gossman, a city planner for Manassas, briefed the council on plans to improve Dean Park, which sits on more than 100 acres near the baseball complex. City officials have longed talked about the possibility of moving the league’s baseball fields to the property.
But planners say the community has asked for amenities other than baseball fields at its community park, including five rectangle fields, a running track, a dog park, and 195 new parking spaces, adding to the park’s existing 213 spaces. The city, landlocked within Prince William County, is largely developed, and city leaders don’t anticipate acquiring any new parkland any time soon.
“We have a five-pound sack, and we’re trying to fit 20 pounds into it,” said Via-Gossman.
An average of 1,500 children play baseball and softball with the Greater Manassas Baseball League during its spring and fall seasons. At least 400 of them live in the city, while the rest live in Prince William County.
More than 3,700 children and their families traveled to the city this year to play tournament games. It’s the type of sports tourism surrounding jurisdictions, like Prince William and Stafford counties, say they want to have.
The Greater Manassas Baseball League was founded in 1956.
