The county soon will close a deal to pay $1.2 million for 80 acres for an athletic complex on Route 424 near Crofton, County Executive Robert R. Neall has announced.
County officials signed an agreement Wednesday to purchase the land next to the Arundel Volunteer Fire Department from Bernard Lerch III and his brother, Gary D. Lerch. Settlement is scheduled for Jan. 3. Local officials and county planners soon will begin work to develop a plan for the new park.
"It's a real relief to know that we have more resources and more facilities to offer the community as a whole, and specifically, our children," said Dorie Folstein, past president of the Crofton Athletic Council.
She said the complex will ease a chronic shortage of athletic fields in the Crofton area, but none of the new facilities will open until at least 1996.