The 2019 USL Championship season will be Charleston Battery‘s last at MUSC Health Stadium, as the facility has been sold to a developer that will redevelop the site.
MUSC Health Stadium, located on Daniel Island, has been the home of the Battery since it was completed in 1999. Its status beyond this season had been in doubt, as an affiliate of Atlanta-based Holder Properties was seeking to purchase the facility from Holland Park, LLC and subsequently demolish it to make way for a larger redevelopment concept.
Those plans are moving forward, as the developer agreed to purchase MUSC Health Stadium for $6.475 million on Friday. The Battery will be permitted to continue operations at the stadium until the end of this year, but it will need to find a new home for 2020. For now the club has not finalized plans for next season, but it is focusing on Charleston’s Stoney Field as an option. More from The Post and Courier:
The Battery hasn’t finalized a location for a new home field, but it’s been in talks to return to its original 1993 venue next year: Stoney Field near The Citadel on the Charleston peninsula.
“That’s our preferred option,” team representative Melissa Britton said Wednesday.
The developer’s purchase of MUSC Health Stadium comes six weeks after it bought an adjacent office building for $35.5 million. Future redevelopment of the stadium site could include townhomes and commercial space, though those plans have not been finalized.
MUSC Health Stadium was known as Blackbaud Stadium when it originally opened, and was revolutionary at the time for using a soccer-specific design. The Battery’s last home match there is currently scheduled for October 19.
Image courtesy Charleston Battery.
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