Open dialogue generates many ideas for stadium

Naval Academy Director of Athletics Chet Gladchuk met with about a dozen residents from the communities surrounding the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium on Aug. 25.

The residents from Admiral Heights, Germantown and Homewood communities heard about the status of stadium redevelopment plans and asked about changes that would benefit their communities. They also asked how the Naval Academy Athletic Association (NAAA) fared during the pandemic.

While the plan to build a visitors center on the stadium property has been tabled for the foreseeable future due to lack of funding, a new, more attainable initiative will be set in progress at the end of this football season.

Gladchuk said that the visitors center was a great idea, but it was before its time. “Someone down the road will dust it off, but for now it’s in a holding pattern,” he said. He hopes that someday it will become a reality, but for now “it’s not on anyone’s radar to advance.”

What is moving forward is a more than $4 million “pocket park” to be landscaped behind the scoreboard on the Farragut Road side of the stadium. Black asphalt will be removed and trees, grass, permeable pavers, a fountain, planters, a garden and open space will take its place.

The area will provide a space for fans to mingle during football games and halftime. When no games are scheduled, the park will be open to the public. Community residents can relax, meditate, read a book, and meet friends there.

“If you think the walking trail is fun, you’ll really enjoy the pocket park,” Gladchuk says. “It’ll be a beautiful, environmentally friendly space. It will be an oasis.”

The new addition to the stadium will be completed in time for the kickoff of the 2022 football season. Disruption to the community will be minimal with noise confined to weekdays between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Another initiative that the NAAA is moving forward on is Family Movie Nights. After it held a successful Movie Night in 2019, NAAA planned more for 2020, but they were canceled because of the pandemic. NAAA plans to reinstitute them in 2022. Four dates are planned.

Gladchuk admits that like small businesses everywhere, NAAA has been in a pinch during the pandemic, but he says that football ticket sales have been robust with about 38,000 fans expected for the first home game against Marshall University. All the revenue generated through parking and stadium events is used to maintain and sustain the stadium’s memorials, grounds, and walking trail.

To learn about stadium events, go to navysports.com, then click first on Athletic Dept. and then on N-MCMS calendar. Fans, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask in an indoor setting. In outside areas, only fans who haven’t been vaccinated are required to wear masks.

Anyone who has concerns on a football day can call the Stadium Operations Center at 410-295-0088. Representatives from the city police and fire departments, the Annapolis Office of Emergency Management, and the Stadium Operations Center will be there to answer questions.

Other issues that were discussed at the meeting include location of dumpsters and an old office trailer, recognizing sponsors of garden plots along the trail, cell phone charging stations, acknowledging the stadium as host of Olympic soccer games, and noise reduction during various events.

These meetings were started in 2017 to encourage an open dialogue between NAAA and those who live near the stadium. A meeting has been held yearly since then except for 2020 when it was canceled because of the pandemic.