The new ballpark would rise just south of The Diamond (pictured at right), between Sports Backers Stadium and the railroad crossing along Arthur Ashe Boulevard. (City documents)
The new design team that’s now driving the Diamond District ballpark has provided the City of Richmond with a first look of the stadium that would replace The Diamond.
Schematic designs for the new stadium that would anchor the larger Diamond District mixed-use development were recently submitted to City Hall and obtained by Richmond BizSense through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The designs, which are preliminary and subject to change, provide a picture – several, in fact – of what the new ballpark would look like and how it would fit into and interact with the larger development.
The 10,000-seat stadium would feature upper-level suites above concourse seating.
The designs show what’s described as a 10,000-seat stadium with upper-level suites above open-air seating and various amenities around the entirety of the ballfield, including an outfield play area for kids and families, terraced lawn seating, a beer garden, party deck, barbecue picnic area, and an east-side main entrance opening out to the Diamond District’s planned linear park.
The document comes months after a change in the design team for the stadium specifically, with the Richmond Flying Squirrels put in charge of the ballpark and the rest of the Diamond District left in the hands of RVA Diamond Partners, the city’s selected developer.
The new stadium design team is led by Machete Group, a Houston-based firm that’s been serving as the Flying Squirrels’ consultant on the ballpark. The team also includes design firms Odell, Ballpark Design Associates and KEI, which took over for RVA Diamond Partners’ previous stadium designer and development consultant, DLR Group and JMI Sports.
The stadium’s main entrance would be on the east side and open out to the Diamond District’s planned linear park.
It isn’t clear from the document what is different about the designs from what DLR Group had been working on previously. The new group’s document references a draft ballpark programming summary that DLR prepared last June and that the group reviewed in developing its designs.
The Flying Squirrels ballclub declined a request to discuss the designs for this story.
The 10,000 seats described in the designs is a return to the capacity originally proposed for the venue, which was first envisioned for 8,000 seats and space for 2,000 standing-room patrons. The planned capacity at one time was dropped to 9,000 and most recently was projected at 9,400. The Diamond currently seats about 9,500, with attendance for Flying Squirrels games averaging over 6,000.
Meanwhile, the stadium’s projected cost has increased to between $110 million and $120 million, up from an earlier estimate of $90 million.
The barbecue picnic area.
Most of the seats would fill a lower-level bowl, while the rest of the venue would consist of the upper-level suites, concessions, three clubhouses and team offices, as well as the beer garden, picnic area and a team store.
The document encourages a “Richmond-centric design” for the stadium, with industrial warehouse and railway influences that could be achieved with brick facades along the concourse and a more modern-design structure for the suites.
The main entry would feature a metal frame entrance structure and ballpark naming sponsorship displays. Visitors would be greeted with a “nostalgic” section of the stadium with reclaimed seating from The Diamond, a history wall of baseball in Richmond, and the team store designed with an old mill aesthetic.
The kids’ play area would include climbable boulders reminiscent of the James River, and the outfield would be lined with stepped turf planes providing lawn seating for families. The area would expand into the adjacent linear park with staging areas for food trucks.
Premium seating would include a “dugout suite” area and individual suites.
Food services for the venue would be designed to be sustainable for three decades, according to the document. They would consist of a central warehouse or commissary, traditional concessions and self-checkout “grab-and-go” concessions, among other options.
The new stadium would rise directly south of The Diamond, which would remain in operation during construction but would be razed once its replacement is complete. The new ballpark would fill the southwest corner of the 67-acre Diamond District site, in the area bordered by Arthur Ashe Boulevard and the train tracks.
The adjacent VCU-owned Sports Backers Stadium would also remain in use while replacement facilities are built at the planned VCU Athletic Village across Hermitage Road. The track-and-field stadium also would eventually be demolished.
A conceptual rendering of the beer garden.
The document notes that the stadium design team has met with the Flying Squirrels “to further develop a variety of fan experience areas and ticket price points.” It adds that final materials, configurations and seating types “will be further developed with the Squirrels stakeholders and construction manager in the remaining design phases.”
The new ballpark is being designed to comply with facility standards that Major League Baseball is requiring for pro baseball venues across the country, as well as with NCAA Division 1 Baseball standards for use by VCU Baseball. The document notes that “No provisions for future expansion are considered” with the design.
MLB, which in recent years has assumed oversight of minor-league facilities like The Diamond, has set a 2025 deadline for compliance from all venues. City leaders have acknowledged they won’t meet that deadline but have said they are aiming to complete the new stadium in time for the 2026 baseball season, with MLB aware that the project is in the works. The new ballpark is expected to take more than 18 months to build.
Outfield amenities would include stepped-turf lawn seating for families and a kids’ play area.
Rounding out the design team for the stadium are structural engineering firm Walter P Moore; MEP engineer Smith Seckman Reid; civil engineer and landscape architect Kimley-Horn; technology and audio-visual consultant Anthony James Partners; and food service consultant William Caruso & Partners. Engineering Consulting Services is handling subsurface geotechnical work for the project.
Odell, which has an office in Richmond, is part of New York-based design firm LaBella Associates and was the stadium designer on Machete Group’s Diamond District team that lost out to RVA Diamond Partners. Odell’s sports and entertainment portfolio includes BB&T Ballpark in Charlotte, home of Minor League Baseball’s Charlotte Knights.
Note: This story has been updated with additional details from the schematic designs document.
The post City gets first look at new Diamond District ballpark design appeared first on Richmond BizSense.
