Saint Frances Academy marked a new football-field project with a ceremonial groundbreaking Tuesday. The planned Cordish Field, across the street from the East Baltimore school in Johnston Square, is to include 70,000 square feet of natural grass and bleachers; The Baltimore Banner reported the project is backed by developer David Cordish and other sponsors and is expected to cost about $1.5 million.
The schedule is not settled in published accounts
The reported completion dates differ. The Banner said construction had begun about six weeks before the ceremony and reported Cordish expected the field could be completed by the end of the year and usable by spring. The Catholic Review, by contrast, reported completion is expected in the 2027–28 academic year, pending construction approvals. Those accounts leave the schedule unresolved.
How Cordish Field relates to Greenmount Park remains unclear
Cordish Field is not the first documented proposal for Saint Frances practice space in Johnston Square. The March 2020 Johnston Square Vision Plan proposed a four-acre Greenmount Park shared by the school and neighborhood, with practice-field space and community access, according to the City-hosted plan.
About 18 months later, Johnston Square Partners broke ground on Greenmount Park; Parks & People Foundation said the project included an interim practice field for Saint Frances and the community. A ReBUILD Metro description also refers to a full-sized athletic field for shared use as part of Greenmount Park. These descriptions document plans for school and community recreation, but they do not establish whether that field is Cordish Field, how the projects relate spatially, or how their use would be coordinated.
For Cordish Field itself, The Banner reported that Saint Frances’ regional team is slated to use it for practices and home games, while the national team will continue to play home games at other venues. The new field would therefore provide a regular base for one squad, but the published accounts do not resolve how that use fits with the separate Greenmount Park plans.
