SALISBURY, Md. - The Henry S. Parker Athletic Center will be seeing a lot of action ahead of the United States Specialty Sports Association (USSSA) Eastern World Series.
Construction of three new synthetic turf fields at the athletic center is continuing, and the fields will also feature Bermuda grass outfields.
The Wicomico County Tourism Department said more fields would allow even more baseball and softball teams from around the country to play in tournaments in Wicomico County.
"There are some major metropolitan areas that are known as the destination and then you've got Salisbury so it's really neat that we're able to compete with those areas and bring in this scale of an event for youth sports in the area," said Wicomico County Department of Tourism Assistant Manager James Simmons.
This year’s USSSA tournament will be held from July 12-29. The USSSA Eastern World Series draws nearly 400 teams from 15 states and Canada to the region over three weeks.
This year's tournament will bring hundreds of teams to Wicomico County and is just one of many anticipated tournaments that will be hosted at the expanded complex.
"The value is huge. I mean, we've already been able to bring in some additional events that would have never come to this area," said Simmons.
Simmons also said that hosting big tournaments in the county would have a greater economic impact on the area as well.
"We're looking at about a 19 million dollar economic impact. That's impacting hotels and restaurants and souvenir shops -- just all the businesses that are tagged into tourism," he said.
The expansion project is expected to be completed next spring. The county also announced a new youth sports tournament that will be played at the expanded complex next summer.
