The Diamond

• Name: The Diamond
• GPS-able Address: 3001 North Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Richmond, VA 23230
• Ballpark Owner: City of Richmond
• Architects: Baskervill & Sons
• Groundbreaking: 8/31/1984
• Minor League Baseball/Professional Development League Teams: Richmond Flying Squirrels (AA) 2010-present; Richmond Braves (AAA) 1985-2008
• Pro Baseball Class/League History: AA/Eastern League 2022-present; AA/Double-A Northeast 2021; AA/Eastern League 2010-2020; AAA/International League 1985-2008
• First Pro Baseball Game: 4/13/1985; stadium debut of Class AAA Braves
• Others Playing or Operating Here: Virginia Commonwealth University Rams
• Previous Ballpark Names: None
• LF: 330 CF: 402 RF: 330
• Seats: 9,560
• Stated Capacity: 9,810
• House Baseball/Softball Record Attendance (as currently configured): 9,845, multiple (cap)

The Diamond in Richmond, VA, is the home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, the San Francisco Giants' Double-A Eastern League farm team. The Parker Field same-site replacement opened in 1985 for the Triple-A Richmond Braves.

After more than a decade of delays, it has finally become a lame-duck ballpark. It has suffered some hard moments: Hurricane Isabel damaged its roof in 2003, and a year later part of a concrete beam fell onto the stands. In 2008, because of its condition, the Atlanta Braves pulled their Triple-A team into an Atlanta suburb. In their final game as such, that September 1st, the R-Braves drew the house baseball record 12,167 fans.

Having lost Triple-A, Richmond recruited the Double-A Connecticut Defenders to fill the empty playpen. When the Defenders-cum-Squirrels arrived, they removed a number of upper-deck seats in favor of permanent signage and replaced all of the seating in the lower deck. These moves dropped the capacity of the ballpark by more than 2,500. There are now 9,560 usable seats, with a capacity of 9,810, including open areas, and an attendance cap of 9,845.

It would seem any team that can draw like that in a ballpark like this deserves a new one. In fact, Squirrels ownership says a new stadium was part of the deal that drew them south and was promised by 2014. Local officials don’t dispute that but say the Great Recession derailed it. In May 2021, citing stadium standards MLB had just imposed in its Minor League Reorganization, Squirrels President Lou DiBella said the Squirrels must be in a new stadium by 2025 or move.

The last previous plan had the Squirrels and their Diamond co-tenant Virginia Commonwealth University baseball Rams signing a "non-binding" 2016 memorandum of understanding that said they would jointly build, and share, a ballpark as part of an ambitious "athletics village" on the VCU campus. A number of land acquisitions by VCU, including the recently vacated state ABC offices, fit the plan.

Soon, however, an entirely new plan gradually emerged - without referencing the existing MOU. First, VCU's athletic village plans stopped referring to a stadium; then VCU said - in what seemed more like a clarification than an update - a ballpark would be built "near" but not "on" its campus. In June of 2020, what was introduced as "Richmond 300" created an equally ambitious but separate project called the Diamond District that would indeed be anchored by a new baseball stadium near the campus. Without direct acknowledgement, it appeared the city had simply decided to do the stadium project it had so long said it couldn't afford - a process the Richmond Times-Dispatch seems to have since confirmed and detailed in 2023[1].

Richmond City Council green-lit the plan September 26, 2022. The overall project may take 15 years and cost nearly $2.5 billion, but the stadium is part of Phase I and was originally expected to be ready by the 2025 opener. That has now been pushed to 2026, pending the approval of MLB, with groundbreaking tentatively scheduled for August 2024.

A complicating factor was a pre-season inspection by MLB that led to a list of demands to be fulfilled before the 2023 campaign. Just over six weeks before start of the season, Richmond City Council approved $3.5 million to make those repairs.[2]

While the Squirrels greeted the 2022 news enthusiastically, the 2023 season got underway with not one spadeful of earth turned on a new park - meaning, barring an exception or waiver, the new ballpark must go from approved idea to functional playpen in less than two years. That - a tall order in Double-A - prompted owner Lou DiBella, on the day his team played its first road game, to issue a statement to the Times-Dispatch saying "with imminent deadlines looming, we cannot be confident that the future of the Squirrels in Richmond is secure."[3]

Two weeks later, the city announced completion of the deal - with some alterations forced by rising interest rates including the 2026 opening. The city is confident the 2023 pre-season investment will buy an extension from MLB.[4] On May 8, 2023, Richmond City Council formally approved the Diamond District project.

Ironically, while a new ballpark would guarantee the continuation of Professional Development League ball in Richmond, it might force the Squirrels out anyway; Richmond was a proven Triple-A market when it had a suitable playpen - reportedly eyed by the Washington Nationals - so a new one might put the city in play for a return to the minors' top level. However, under the new system, it appears possible a big-league club that has rescinded a license from any of its farm clubs could offer the Squirrels ownership that license.