Portland Hearts of Pine Announce Plans for New Soccer Stadium at Cassidy Point

Club reveals long-term vision to transform an industrial coal storage site into a permanent home for its men’s and women’s soccer teams; the project will also benefit the broader community by expanding public waterfront access and creating new communal spaces, all while preserving the working waterfront.

PORTLAND, Maine — Portland Hearts of Pine have announced plans to develop a new soccer-specific stadium at Cassidy Point, marking a major step in the club’s long-term vision to guide the continued growth of soccer in Maine.

“The support this community has shown our club has exceeded anything we could have imagined.”
-- Gabe Hoffman-Johnson, Founder

“From supporters filling Fitzpatrick Stadium to the 8,000 person season ticket waitlist to the excitement surrounding our women’s team, we’ve reached a point where it’s time to start planning for what comes next. This is about building a permanent home that allows Hearts of Pine to grow responsibly alongside the community that has embraced us,” Hoffman-Johnson said.

The proposed stadium is still in early planning stages, with a projected capacity of 9,000-11,000 seats. Once completed, it would serve as the permanent home for the club’s men’s and women’s USL teams, while creating new opportunities for community events and public recreation at a revitalized waterfront location in Portland.

Located along the Fore River, Cassidy Point occupies one of Portland’s most recognizable gateways, whether by air, land, or sea. Visible when landing at the Jetport, when driving along I-295 or the Veterans Memorial Bridge, or when cruising through the harbor, the property serves as one of the first impressions many visitors have of the city.

For decades, this prominent site has been used for coal storage. Following years of neighborhood concerns about the environmental and public health impacts of coal dust, the Portland City Council unanimously adopted an ordinance that requires large coal stockpiles to be permanently removed. This change caused Cassidy Point’s current owners to evaluate what comes next for one of Portland’s most visible sites, at a time when many residents want to reimagine the city’s landscape and add new communal gathering spaces, especially along the waterfront. 

The proposed project would transform this fenced-off industrial property into a community-centered destination that will improve public access to the waterfront and provide new spaces for residents of all ages to enjoy.

“Opportunities like this don’t come around often,” said Kevin Schohl, Club President. “Cassidy Point is like the front porch of Portland, where people gain their first impression as they arrive into the city. We now have an opportunity to transform a site that’s been inaccessible for generations into a place that reflects the pride, creativity, and competitive spirit of Maine, while giving our community a waterfront destination it can enjoy year-round. That’s a responsibility we take incredibly seriously, and we’re excited to get started.”

To bring this project to life, Hearts of Pine will benefit from the extensive real estate experience of Jonathan and Catherine Culley, two of the club’s founding partners, who have spent several years helping the club search for land on Portland’s peninsula that could be used for a soccer-specific stadium. 

“Having an in-town stadium is critical for this club, which thrives on the urban energy that makes Portland so special.”
-- Jonathan Culley, Founding Partner

“We want as many people as possible to walk, bike, and bus to our matches, and we know how important it is that we build a distinctive stadium that our fans are proud to call home. I think Cassidy Point is the perfect place for us to make that vision a reality,” Culley added.

The club’s vision aligns with Portland’s Plan 2030, which highlights Portland’s “unique mix of marine uses interwoven with compatible non-marine uses” along the waterfront. In that plan, the city articulates long-term goals of expanding public waterfront access, promoting recreational activities, and supporting private, federal, and state investment in the Western Waterfront. 

Hearts of Pine is committed to a robust and transparent public process with public engagement across many forums. The club will work collaboratively with civic leaders and the site’s many neighbors to ensure that the project is designed in a way that is additive and complementary to the rest of the Western Waterfront. Notably, the site’s 600-foot pier will not be part of the proposed stadium plan and will remain zoned for marine industrial use, but other portions of the property will be transformed to give new life to a portion of the riverfront that has historically been inaccessible to the public.

While planning for the future, the club emphasized that Fitzpatrick Stadium will remain its home as the Cassidy Point project moves through what is expected to be a comprehensive planning, review, and construction process.

“Fitzy has been an incredible home for this club,” said Kevin Schohl. “So much of what we’re accomplishing together has happened there, and planning for Cassidy Point doesn’t change that. Even though we now plan to leave our current home sooner than we ever originally expected, we are proud to have invested nearly $3 million into Fitzpatrick, for the benefit of all who use it. We want to leave every place we touch better than we found it.”

Since kicking off in early 2025, Hearts have sold out every home match at Fitzpatrick Stadium. With over 6,000 attendees per game and another 8,000 supporters on the season ticket waitlist, there is clear demand for a larger stadium. The Hearts of Pine fanbase is one of the most engaged communities in U.S. soccer, and that momentum has continued with the announcement of the club’s USL W team, as 5,000 season ticket deposits were sold out in less than an hour, reinforcing the extraordinary demand for both men’s and women’s soccer in Maine.

“The way the state of Maine has rallied around this club over the past two seasons has been extraordinary, but what’s impossible to articulate are the intangible social impacts it has had on this community, and how far that goes beyond soccer.”
-- Gabe Hoffman-Johnson, Founder

“This club is an invitation to be a part of something so much bigger than ourselves. The sense of belonging and civic pride Mainers are finding in this club is an extension of our shared identity, and it’s clear that this communal participation is transforming individuals, families, communities, our city, and our state,” Hoffman-Johnson said. “This club represents connective tissue for all those who have their hearts in Maine, and this connection is positively impacting people’s sense of vitality. That’s why we’re doing this, that’s why this club exists: to bring people together, and in doing so we contribute towards building a better Maine.”

Over the next few months, Hearts will engage fans and other community stakeholders to refine the project vision, while also conducting environmental reviews and other due diligence on the site. The club aims to retain as much of the festival-like atmosphere at Fitzpatrick as possible, while expanding capacity and improving overall fan comfort. If all goes according to plan, the club plans to begin construction in 2027, with the goal of opening the stadium in early 2029.

The Cassidy Point stadium project will be predominantly privately funded, with total costs projected to exceed $50 million. No final decisions have been made regarding stadium design or specific programming, and all renderings released at this stage are conceptual. 

“This announcement is just the beginning of a conversation,” said Hoffman-Johnson. “Cassidy Point presents us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build something lasting for the city of Portland, and for the future of the sport here in Maine. There’s a lot of work ahead for every member of this club and this community to bring this dream to life. We can’t wait to get started.”