Richmond is putting together ownership of the The Diamond and surrounding land to position the city for a new ballpark there or at Shockoe Bottom.
Richmond originally owned the land at The Diamond and then shifted ownership to the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, which then built the ballpark. The deal called for the return of the land to the city should the ballpark be demolished, but the transfer is happening now. It won’t affect operations for the Richmond Flying Squirrels (Class AA; Eastern League).
By acquiring the nine-acre Diamond area, the city now controls 45 acres that would be prime real estate either for a new ballpark or a larger redevelopment, which could then fund a new ballpark in Shockoe Bottom. From Richmond BizSense:
“One thought would be to take the southwest portion of the Boulevard tract where we currently have a maintenance facility for our vehicles as well as a storage facility for our schools, tear those down and build a [new] Diamond there,” {Richmond Chief Administrative Officer Byron] Marshall said. “Schools will be moving off of that site by the end of the first quarter, and those two buildings will be ready to be demolished.”
Marshall did not address any potential role the Boulevard tract could play should the city strike a deal to build a ballpark in Shockoe Bottom or whether it might use proceeds from a sale of land on Boulevard to fund a downtown venue.
If a ballpark went into Shockoe Bottom, “instead of being able to develop 30 acres or so, there would be 60 acres available,” Marshall said of the Boulevard site.
Talk of a new Shockoe Bottom ballpark has already spurred protests from some in the local African-American community, who say a ballpark is not respective of the area’s former status as a slave-trading center.
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