Hearts of Pine are pursuing the development of a soccer-specific stadium at Cassidy Point that would become the permanent home for the club’s men’s and women’s teams.

The vision includes a stadium with approximately 9,000-11,000 seats, an indoor soccer facility for year-round recreational use, plus public waterfront access, open green space, pedestrian connections, and other improvements that would help connect the community to a portion of Portland’s waterfront.

The project remains in its early stages. We expect the planning and public approval process to take 6 to 12 months, including an extensive community engagement process, environmental review, engineering and site diligence, public zoning approvals, and design development. Once these planning phases are complete, we would plan to begin construction during late 2027 and open the new stadium in early 2029.

With a season ticket base over 4,000 people for our men’s team (plus a waitlist of an additional 8,000 people hoping to buy season tickets in the future), and 5,000 season ticket deposits placed within an hour for the future women’s team, demand for professional soccer in Maine has already outgrown the capacity of Fitzpatrick Stadium.

While Fitzpatrick will continue to serve as an incredible home for both men’s and women’s teams, a permanent home allows Hearts to grow responsibly, welcome thousands more supporters into matches each season, and continue investing in the future of soccer in Maine. It also transforms an industrial site into a destination for community gathering that offers improved waterfront access, all while freeing up opportunities for additional recreational use and field time at Fitzpatrick Stadium, easing demand on one of Portland’s busiest public facilities.

Cassidy Point is located on Portland’s peninsula, less than a mile from Fitzpatrick Stadium. The site sits along the Fore River waterfront beside Veterans Memorial Bridge. Visible from the I-295 bridge and the Portland Jetport flight path, Cassidy Point is uniquely positioned to become a prominent landmark and gateway at the southern tip of Portland.

This site presents a rare opportunity to create a permanent home on Portland’s peninsula, one that supporters can walk, bike, take transit, or drive to. Cassidy Point uniquely combines that accessibility with the opportunity to transform an industrial site already transitioning away from coal storage into a right-sized home for Hearts and a lasting asset for Portland.

The site is currently used for industrial coal storage, including a large coal pile that has been the subject of community concern for years. Under a city ordinance, large coal piles must be covered by 2027 and removed by 2030.

The stadium is envisioned primarily for men’s and women’s soccer, along with other community-centered uses. We envision it as a year-round gathering space and are looking forward to working with the community to shape how it is used.

While the stadium is the centerpiece of the project, the broader vision extends beyond soccer. The project would also create public green space, waterfront access, connections to existing pedestrian and cycling trails, and gathering areas that connect people to a part of Portland’s waterfront.

We also plan to explore the possibility of limited restaurant and retail space at the site that could operate year-round. Many of these elements will be shaped through community engagement and continued design work.

The stadium project will be predominantly privately funded, with total costs projected to exceed $50 million.

Parking and transportation will be a key part of the planning process, and we’re confident there’s a solution that fits both the site, the surrounding neighborhoods, and the city. We expect to partner with nearby property owners and parking facilities to provide event parking, while also making walking, biking, and public transit central to the matchday experience.

One of the reasons we prioritized a location on Portland’s peninsula is because it gives supporters multiple ways to get to matches—not just by car. We’ll continue working closely with the City, transportation partners, and neighbors to develop a comprehensive transportation plan as the project moves forward.

Fitzpatrick Stadium will continue to serve as one of Portland’s most prominent recreational facilities, and as Hearts of Pine’s home for the foreseeable future while the Cassidy Point project moves through planning, permitting, and construction. Since Hearts was announced, the club has privately invested nearly $3 million into improving Fitzpatrick Stadium, benefiting the countless community members, organizations, and schools who use the facility every year.

Planning for Cassidy Point reflects the same philosophy that guided those investments: that this club can be a way to leave every place we play better than we found it.

Portland’s working waterfront is fundamental to the city’s identity, and we believe preserving it is essential. As part of this project plan, Cassidy Point’s 600-foot pier will continue to support maritime activity through a separate marine operator. We’re committed to working collaboratively with waterfront businesses, labor organizations, neighborhood groups, and public agencies throughout the planning process.

Our goal is to preserve active maritime uses while opening portions of the property that have historically been inaccessible to the public.

Environmental stewardship is a central part of this project. The transition away from coal storage presents an opportunity to expedite cleaning the site–a longstanding ask of the neighboring West End Neighborhood Association that led to City Council’s vote in 2025–and open up access to the waterfront with public green space in a way that benefits the broader community.

The project will undergo all required environmental review and comply with applicable local, state, and federal regulations.

The project is entering an extensive period of engineering, environmental review, community engagement, and public permitting. Over the coming months we’ll continue conducting additional site work, meeting with neighborhood organizations and waterfront stakeholders, and preparing for the City’s public zoning and site plan review process.

Community input will be central to every stage of this project. In addition to the public meetings required through the City’s permitting process, Hearts will host town halls, listening sessions, surveys, and other opportunities for neighbors, supporters, and stakeholders to help shape the future of Cassidy Point.

Community members can sign up for updates at heartsofpine.com/cassidypoint or share ideas directly by emailing CassidyPoint@heartsofpine.com

While no final decisions have been made regarding stadium design or specific programming, and all renderings released at this stage are conceptual, we’re committed to bringing the same festival atmosphere to Cassidy Point that has come to define matchdays at Fitzpatrick.

Community members are encouraged to engage with the project by joining the mailing list here or by reaching out directly to CassidyPoint@heartsofpine.com.

Ticketing details are not available at this time, and are dependent on final stadium design and approval. Active Season Ticket Members heading into the first season of play at the new stadium would have first priority for tickets. Following that, additional season tickets will be made available to the Season Ticket Waitlist. Join the waitlist here.