A $3 million effort to redevelop Rash Field will move into high gear tomorrow, when designers hold the first of several meetings scheduled to obtain ideas from the community.

The Maryland Science Center on Key Highway is the setting for the kickoff meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. It will be followed by a focus group workshop on January 25, time to be determined, and a second public meeting on March 29th at 6 p.m. All three meetings will be at the Science Center.

The Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore earlier this year selected Mahan Rykiel Associates to lead the effort to redesign Rash Field, the recreational area on the south shore of the Inner Harbor between the science center and the Rusty Scupper restaurant. Construction is expected to begin in late 2016.

Rash Field is being upgraded as part of the Inner Harbor 2.0 planning effort, an effort which itself has received an overhaul.

The Partnership said the plan was needed to attract more people to the Inner Harbor – locals as well as tourists – by giving them more to see and do. But since its release in 2013, the project’s scope has changed, with the underground parking garage feature dropping out and the existing sand courts for beach volleyball to be retained.

Exercise equipment, areas for health and fitness programs and a flexible area for events are among the proposed uses.

Besides holding the public meetings, the Waterfront Partnership is building a new website for the planning effort: www.RashField.org.