Lake Olmstead Stadium

Lake Olmstead Stadium in Augusta, GA, was the home of Augusta affiliated baseball from 1995 through 2017. After that, the Augusta GreenJackets of the Class A South Atlantic League moved into a new ballpark in North Augusta, SC.

Olmstead opened in 1995 on the site of short-lived Heaton Stadium (1988-1994). In December 2012, Ripken Baseball - as in Baltimore Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr. - sold the 'Jackets to a group that planned to move them into a new ballpark in a proposed new development across the Savannah River.

A series of legal challenges pushed the new ballpark into 2018, when it opened with an April 9th high-school game. The move at least nominally ended an Augusta professional baseball history that dated to 1885 and included the legendary Ty Cobb's 1904 pro debut. The team retained the Augusta name in spite of changing not only cities but states. While it might seem a move from Augusta, GA, to North Augusta, SC, would be north, it was actually southeast.

Olmstead began its new life as an outdoor concert venue with a 2019 Memorial Day Weekend barbecue and music festival. The Coronavirus pandemic soon shut it down, but its baseball roots got it another shot as a filming location for two baseball biopics.

The Hill is about Rickey Hill, who played professional baseball after overcoming physical disabilities and opposition from his father. It was originally scheduled to be released in 2022 but was delayed without announcement or explanation. After another brief delay - this time just a week - it is now set to premier in theaters on August 25, 2023.

The Royal offers the story of first baseman Willie Mays Aikens, whose 1977-1985 MLB career ended prematurely because of drugs. The Augusta Film Commission didn't announce it was being filmed at the old yard until after it was completed. It was released in July 2022.

Upgrades undertaken for a 2022 Masters Week concert series turned up alleged safety issues with the ground that prevented the concerts. Since then, the facility has fallen into disrepair. In late February 2023, the city sued the concert promoter over the facility's "state of destruction" the suit alleges has developed since the failed series. The suit also says the promoter was aware of the ground issues and so contends they were not the actual cause for the concerts' cancellation. The promoter has filed a counterclaim denying that.