Maryland - birthplace of the Special Olympics - is on its way to becoming the first state to open a major training facility for disabled athletes that will include an Olympic-size pool, sports training center, track and ball fields.
The $20 million sports complex, planned for completion in 2005, will be built in East Park in northern Anne Arundel County, a site chosen for its proximity to Interstate 97. Special Olympics officials said they want the training center to be convenient to the state's 10,000 athletes, coaches and volunteers.
"We think it is fitting that the state in which Special Olympics was founded would have the first sports training facility for athletes," Mark P. Huston, a member of the Special Olympics Maryland board of directors, said yesterday. "We are really excited about it."
Board Chairman Col. David B. Mitchell, who is superintendent of the Maryland State Police, and Patricia Krebs, Special Olympics Maryland president and chief executive officer, reached a nonbinding agreement this week with Anne Arundel County, which owns the property. County Executive Janet S. Owens signed the document late Wednesday.
A legal agreement between the parties is expected to be signed in the coming months.
"Isn't this exciting?" Owens said yesterday. "I think it will just be phenomenal."
The complex will house Special Olympics Maryland offices, now in Columbia, as well as conference rooms and a distance learning center that would use computer and video conferencing technology to reach athletes and coaches who can't travel.
The gymnasium will offer a weight room and a sports medicine clinic. Outside, plans call for soccer and softball fields, a 400-meter track and two tennis courts.
The sports complex will be shared by county residents and Special Olympics athletes. Special Olympics coaches and volunteers will be offered training at the center, and leisure activities such as golf and bocce will be offered to the disabled athletes.
Although Special Olympics groups in other states are seeking similar arrangements, Special Olympics Maryland's deal with Anne Arundel came through first, said Tom Waite, senior vice president for sports programs with Special Olympics Maryland.
"From a community perspective, it is a real, true partnership," Waite said. "It is a neat fit."
