What’s the Future of Swann Park in South Baltimore?

The original master plan for the Port Covington development, which now goes by Baltimore Peninsula, was revealed in January 2016. It showed Swann Park being replaced with new blocks and the athletic fields being relocated to an expanded West Covington Park. Now nine and a half years later, the 11-acre Swann Park is still there and its future is still being discussed.

Swann Park has been a park for sports in South Baltimore for many decades. It was closed in 2007 after it was found to be contaminated with arsenic and later reopened in 2010 after remediation and a renovation was completed.

The park includes a full-size baseball field named Al Kaline Field, a football/soccer field, and two fields for softball or youth baseball. The park also has a closed bath and field house, as well as adjacent parking.

A monument was installed at Swann Park in 2019 to honor the former Mayor, Governor, and Congressman Thomas Swann, who is the namesake for Swann Park, as well as the history of the 19u amateur baseball team that played at the park. This notable team had more than 175 future professional baseball players take the field. This monument was spearheaded by local baseball enthusiasts who wanted to make sure the history of baseball at the park was commemorated before any major changes were made. The plaque was designed so that it can be moved if the park is relocated.

Al Kaline Field is named after the late Baseball Hall of Famer. Kaline grew up in the nearby South Baltimore neighborhood of Westport and played high school baseball at the former Southern High School in Federal Hill.

An email began circulating in April by the Baltimore Peninsula Development team, which is comprised of MAG Partners and MacFarlane Partners, in partnership with Sagamore Ventures and the Urban Investment Group within Goldman Sachs Asset Management. The email provided a template to submit letters of support to Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott on a land swap between Swann Park, which is owned by Baltimore City, and West Covington Park, which is owned by the Baltimore Peninsula Development team.

West Covington Park is open to the public when private events are not taking place. It has paths, green spaces, a pier, and volleyball courts. It does not have dedicated sports fields.

Proposed language in the template letter said:

We believe this land exchange presents a timely and strategic opportunity to enhance public access to open space and recreation, for the following reasons:
Enhanced Waterfront Access: The proposed swap offers an increase in publicly accessible waterfront land, allowing for greater enjoyment of Baltimore’s natural assets by residents and visitors alike.
Noise Reduction: Relocating the park to the West Covington site would reduce exposure to industrial noise pollution currently experienced at Swann Park.
Improved Visibility and Use: West Covington Park is already a highly trafficked and naturally utilized area by the public, lending itself to greater activation and accessibility as an official city park.
Parking Availability: The West Covington site offers existing parking resources that will support broader public use without the need for significant new infrastructure investment.
Environmental and Resilience Benefits: The proposed move also takes into consideration environmental conditions, including flood plain dynamics and remediation needs at Swann Park—further reinforcing the public health and safety rationale behind the transition.

This proposal was met with immediate pushback from the local community including neighborhood associations on the South Baltimore Peninsula and local recreation sports organizations.

Jackson Fisher of the Riverside Neighborhood Association (RNA), who is also a longtime board member of the South Baltimore Youth Soccer League (SBYSL), told SouthBMore.com that “the area can’t handle any loss in athletic facilities.”

Users of Swann Park include Volo adult softball, Baltimore City Recreation and Parks adult softball leagues, South Baltimore Little League (SBLL), St. Ignatius Loyola Academy athletics, SBYSL, Sobo Dominators youth club soccer, Bmore Athletics, Westport Patriots youth football, Lee Lee Kiddz flag football, Whole Sports soccer, a local adult rugby club, and additional club baseball teams.

Youth programming at SBYSL and SBLL have seen rapid growth in recent years. Each league now has more than 600 players and have been looking for quality field space to meet the increased demand. South Baltimore has also seen the rejuvenation of middle school athletics at Thomas Johnson Elementary Middle School and Francis Scott Key Elementary Middle School. Additionally, Digital Harbor High School has never had its own regulation sports fields and has bounced around from park to park on the South Baltimore Peninsula over the years. Swann Park has been a home in the past to its football and baseball teams.

SBYSL President Matt Shudtz told SouthBMore.com: “SBYSL, like all of the youth and adult sports programs in the area, has been growing in recent years. Having athletic fields nearby is very important to the families that make up our league. I haven’t seen how the land swap enhances access to athletic facilities, and I’m eager to learn more about that.”

SBLL President Brendan O’Brien told SouthBMore.com: “Any changes to South Baltimore that results in fewer options for playing fields is a step in the wrong direction. We need MORE field options, not fewer. Furthermore, Rec and Parks should seek partnerships with private groups to find innovative solutions for field upkeep and care. The current model doesn’t work. SBLL is looking for a true partner in the City in order to meet our growing registration numbers.”

A spokesperson for the Baltimore Peninsula Development team told SouthBMore.com: “It was a little clumsy the way it came out.” The team is now furthering its community outreach.

“We’ve had some great conversations with concerned people,” said the spokesperson. “We understand that there are many many leagues that use those fields. There’s parking, there’s lights, and it works. The growth of youth sports is fun to hear.”

After meeting with members of the community and with more meetings upcoming, the spokesperson noted an in-kind replacement of what is at Swann Park should be the process.

Asked if there is any sentimental attachment to the Swann Park location, Fisher said, “I don’t know that there’s sentimental attachment to it. It’s the function it serves. If those functions are replaced or enhanced, we are fine with it. We’ve seen plans for that being something else for years.”

In a statement, the Baltimore Peninsula development team said: “The Port Covington Master Plan provides for approximately 40 acres of open space and parks. The Department of Recreation and Parks has an inventory of public parks, which constitutes the Parks Master Plan. Modifications to the inventory will need to be undertaken through a process that includes review and approval by the Department of Recreation and Parks, including the Park Board. Changes to the Parks Master Plan are also approved by the Planning Commission and Department of Real Estate.”

Councilwoman Phylicia Porter of District 10, which includes Swann Park and the western part of Baltimore Peninsula, wants to see Swann Park stay where it currently is. “I see many of the little league teams practicing there, and I don’t want to see them anywhere else,” she told SouthBMore.com.

She noted the email from the Baltimore Peninsula development team “was a bit presumptuous” and she hadn’t had any formal meetings about the idea prior to it going out.

Councilwoman Porter looks forward to to upcoming community engagement and charettes with community associations and the local sports leagues.

She also wants to see a renovation of Swann Park. At Swann Park, along with the closed bath and field house, the baseball and softball infields are often filled with water days after rain, trash if often overflowing from the trash cans, the ‘Al Kaline Field’ sign is deteriorating, and fencing is damaged and falling down in many spots.

“There are many meetings to come. There is going to be heavy community engagement,” said Councilwoman Porter.

When asked why the Swann Park land is of such interest to the Baltimore Peninsula development team, the spokesperson noted industrial and entertainment users have shown the most interest due to the size of the parcel. The spokesperson noted this could be logistics or manufacturing, and that professional soccer “has looked at it so many times.” A soccer stadium has now been studied at a different site in Baltimore Peninsula.

Baltimore Peninsula Development team also owns a large property south of Swann park and the former Schuster Concrete building east of the park.

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