Two local nonprofit foundations are teaming up to raise money to build an event center at Cedar Lane Regional Park in Harford County.
The Cedar Lane Sports Foundation and Greater Bel Air Community Foundation are jointly announcing a Buy a Brick Campaign to get the fundraising rolling next week, according to the park's Executive Director John McHugh.
The campaign will allow people to purchase and personalize bricks that will be used to form a large patio next the grandstand and a lighted field that will part of a center courtyard in the park, McHugh wrote in an e-mail Thursday. Harford County Executive David R. Craig will announce the campaign on Jan. 12 at 8 a.m. at the park.
Those interested can help to raise the $200,000 needed for the events center by purchasing a 4-by-8 inch or 8-by-8 inch brick with up to three lines of engraving, according to a news release.
The events center will include offices, a possible concession stand, restrooms and team rooms, according to Harford Parks and Recreation Director Arden McClune.
"The plans for Cedar Lane have always included a building for the office, restrooms and other ancillary uses," McClune wrote in an e-mail. "The Foundation is currently utilizing an office trailer which is inadequate for the operation and lacks restroom facilities."
The brick program with the Greater Bel Air Foundation is the first major fundraiser for the center, McClune added, but there will be other such efforts later on.
Greater Bel Air Community Foundation has been a major contributor to a number of school, recreation and community projects in and around Bel Air, including the senior workshop at the Equestrian Center, Tucker Field in Hickory and Annie's Playground in Fallston.
Additional information on the capital campaign is available on the Greater Bel Air Community Foundation website at
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Cedar Lane Regional Park, which is south of Bel Air in the Creswell area, has 112 acres and is operated in a partnership between the nonprofit Cedar Lane Sports Foundation and Harford County, which owns the property.
Cedar Lane, opened in 2008, hosts local, regional and national sporting events, as well as sports leagues. Overall, the park had 282,580 visitors in 2011, according to McHugh.
In November, the county announced that the Baltimore Bohemians, a new minor league professional soccer team, will call Cedar Lane its home for the upcoming season. The "Bohs," as the team will be called, will be a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League, one of the nation's top organizations for the advancement and evolution of young soccer players.