Diradour still swinging for baseball at The Diamond
SPECIAL REPORT: Baseball in Richmond
A man approached Charlie Diradour and shook his hand outside The Diamond yesterday.
"Keep up the good work, Charlie," he said.
Replied Diradour: "Thank you very much for coming out."
Diradour, who arranged the appearance to announce the launching of his revamped Web site, looked as if a politician were the centerpiece. Diradour is not a politician -- at least not yet.
Diradour, 45, a graduate of Trinity Episcopal School and Virginia Commonwealth University, began a public crusade to keep baseball on the Boulevard soon after the Shockoe Center proposal was released in October. Yesterday, he reiterated his belief that a transformation of The Diamond is the most sensible fiscal measure.
In so doing, Diradour re-raised the question that surfaces each time he makes the pitch: What is this guy's motivation?
Diradour owns and operates a local real estate development firm that mainly deals with properties in Richmond's Fan District. "I want this known far and wide," he said. "I have no interests along the Boulevard corridor."
He said he endorses the Boulevard location because a ballpark is already there with good access and parking.
Diradour said he opposed the Shockoe Center proposal "to make sure the citizens' tax dollars weren't mishandled." That proposal was withdrawn last week. Yesterday, he emphasized the need for Richmond-area residents, regardless of ballpark-site preference, to embrace the Double-A franchise set to come next season.
"This is not some self-aggrandizement setting up for doing anything," Diradour said. "This is pure. And people have responded to it."
Diradour says he was in a barbershop a few days ago, and a couple of men there praised his support of The Diamond. They told him he needed to take his common-sense approach into government.
"Do I? Or am I more effective doing it this way?" Diradour said. "That's a question I'm wrestling with right now."
Yesterday, Diradour beseeched the city administration to at least meet with Peter Kirk, the chairman of Opening Day Partners, who early last month submitted to area officials a $28 million proposal to transform The Diamond.
Kirk's plan would remove the roof and the upper deck, expand the lower bowl, add a berm, a play area (with bumper boats, a carousel and skateboard park) and a conference center. New retail would be built adjacent to the stadium.
Kirk has not heard from area leaders about setting up a meeting.
"Economically at this time in this country's history, it makes even more sense now to use adaptive reuse technologies to bring this site back to life," Diradour said of The Diamond.
Diradour was a supporter of the unsuccessful campaign for Richmond mayor by William J. Pantele, a former City Council president. Yesterday, Pantele stopped by The Diamond to support Diradour.
Pantele called Kirk "brilliant" and said attendance dropped during the Richmond Braves' final few years not because of the stadium or its location, but because of "poor management of the facility and a lack of promotion."
Contact John O'Connor at (804) 649-6233 or
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Reader Reactions
Be careful HONDO, you do not know me, what I know about baseball, or how my political views align.
In fact, I do know a lot about baseball and the inner workings. So much to know that KIRK is not allowed to own both non-affiliated ball and affiliated ball. Only one person, I believe, at this point is allowed to own both and they were granted an exception by the governing body. You are allowed to own multiple teams in different leagues, but not affiliated ball and non-affiliated ball. Affiliated are the ones that have player development contracts with those things called Major League Clubs—Yankess, Nationals, etc.
As far as politics, I spent many years in the Beltway, my father served this country not only in uniform but also in the NSA, so again….quiet yourself until you have your facts straight: party lines or whatever else.
The fact is both Dems and Reps both do drugs…look at national statistics on drug usage and abuse.
I happen to travel to many markets in the business I do and have had the pleasure of being behind the scenes in many sports—baseball is only one. I have also had the opportunity to go to MANY types of venues, from A- Majors in baseball. So my comments result from a broad base of experience spanning almost two decades.
I grew up going to Parker Field, and still have family that live in the Belmont/Ginter Park areas. I am very well aware of what progress the Boulevard has made over 30+ years. The Diamond resembled the old Fulton County stadium—in fact it was the mini-me version of that facility. A big, concrete block. Parking—- along the streets behind Bill’s BBQ, and International Trucking—that’s safe!
Plainly put…go to other markets and see what the environment around the ballpark includes. People that go to games want retail and dining options before and after the game. What are the options if only the stadium is redone on the BLVD.
Diradour does has business interest in that entire track of land. It is not just a passion to unite baseball fans.
You ever wonder why St. Louis who is considered with having the most knowledgeable baseball fans, is building their new stadium to have views from restaurants, residential and office spaces. Toronto enjoys the views as hotel guests can open their drapes and view the game. Boston, Chicago are just two other markets that have their parks surrounded by other development. Camden Yard issued in a new era in baseball stadium construction and was praised for the amenities it offers the FAN.
I would think we would want to get this right the first time, and have a stadium/entertainment entity worthy of growth and aiming to attract the best….you know, that thing they call looking to the future and being proactive instead of reactionary as Richmond always is.
HONDO: Since you seem to be so informed, why would the county support the DIAMOND location and NOT a Bottom Location, if they are both located in the city limits.
If the BLVD is such a great place, why did I and my sports fan friends travel out of town to patron other better venues? Why does anyone relocated here go to the DIAMOND and BLVD, and say WTF is this?
To : lance62, Baseballfan12, southpawjo, are you guys idiots??????
What the ____ are you talking about? And Lance62 to bring up Palin you must be a dope smoking hippie from VCU. You know who runs this city Democrats ( Idiots like you ) you guys know nothing about baseball or politics. If we believed your facts we would be living in Russia or better yet Cuba.
Do us all a favor and get together and go smoke one under the Lee bridge. Have a nice day!!!
FIRST OFF, do your research, KIRK is NOT allowed to have affiliated ball. Minus one or two exceptions, AFFILIATED ball (which means they are scouted routinely by the MLB) will not allow Kirk and others like him to straddle the fence and own NON-AFFILIATED ball, which is what ODP operates.
ALSO, go to other minor league ballparks anywhere in the region, or the US, the DIAMOND and the area around it is a DUMP.
There is a reason when the Mayor took office, he aligned himself with the Bottom plan, as did a successful development firm, such as Highwoods, did.
The reason it fell apart is because RBC and the leader Bostic failed to show MiLB the money at the end of the day. Who were Bostic and his mysterious investors—- that should be a question everyone is asking and demanding an answer to. If they closed the deal, we wouldn’t be still in limbo with tjhis whole thing. Funny how the Mayor and Highwoods broke the deal (saved face) after RBC failed to close the monetary part of the deal with CT. After all, Bostic was tooting his tooting his own horn, and so was Burton on Sports Radio, to have it fall apart at the the last minute. But no mention of who was involved and why they pulled the plug…at such a crucial moment. ANSWERS PLEASE!!!!!
Then the Mayor followed suit and said that high rail and bus hub was most important… funny, that was all part of the Bottom Plan from years ago, and just coming into fruition with the budget from years ago, regardless of current economical concerns. Check out the May 12-19, 2009 press conference footage played in the OMNI hotel on the Richmond Channel in regards to this. No mention then of how they were in conflict with each other. WHY…because they were designed in the Bottom proposal to co-exist and compliment each other. Museum included in this too.
As Pantele mentioned, this is more than baseball… its about creating an entertainment center—a draw for tourists and locals, much like all other cities with vision (read with cities that truly execute REGIONAL COOPERATION) enjoy. Look at Cleveland- with the Flats, or Toledo with their revamped arts/entertainment district.
HMMM… the National, The Performing Art Center, the $200K renovation to the VMFA are along the Broad Street Corridor—wonder why all this is happening…. WHO apid for the VMFA reno—YOUR TAX $$$$$$$. And what happens to my tax $ when I don’t have children attending public schools??? You collect it and I don’t get reimbursed or to choose where every $ collected goes. NICE OPTION if we did.
The BLVD is a dump and, with or without the BOWTIE Theaters on the BLVD, it will always be. It will take more of an influx of $$$ to revamp that area than the bottom, which is the desired site…SEE press conference and 3 studies (totaling over $400K) over the last 5 years.
Give me an old time, historic baseball field in an urban development, such as Chicago and Boston enjoy, with balconies that overlook the field. Restaurants and retail to go to before and after a game, and you’ve got me staying in Richmond, rather than finding a way to get to a market that is progressive and looking to the future.
Diradour: you know you are an “interested” party in seeing that the Diamond is picked..you have a lot of money tied up in that area…In the future, don’t talk on a business call while walking through Target. You should know Richmond is too small to talk such important matters when you don’t know what ears can hear you.
How will a new development project in Manchester solve problems? Why don’t we compete one area of development before starting another? Finish the Bottom and then move onto to the next area. The flood wall and Canal have been in the works for 15 years. it is time to complete the prject and then move to the next area.
OR we as a community can have as much ADD as our political representatives and newspaper columnists/writers seem to… OR WE CAN HOLD THEM TO TASK TO FINISH WHAT THEY HAVE SPENT MONEY TO RESEARCH AND ENDORSED UNTIL THE WIND CHANGED AGAIN!!!
This whole slogan of REGIONAL COOPERATION could fertilize all the Hanover tomoatoes grown in the area, plus every farm along Routes 460, 360, and 60.
In the end it is up to the leaders of this community (and that includes ghe media) to stop speculating and pull together instead up shoveling another pile of manure on this whole thing, and onto us as citizens.
I’d be happy to, Edith. And I just read your editorial from this weekend. It was very thoughtful and your approach to the solution is a great one.
Lance62 and baseballfan12—please think about posting your comments about the city’s identity on the blog dreamyourrichmond.blogspot.com—we need your thoughts!
Lance - I hear what you’re saying and you’re absolutely right about Trani. In his absence, we need another leader to step up and make critical and positive decisions. Few people questioned his decisions because of the positive outcomes, which is not the case for the City.
At the end of the day, every city has and needs Civic buildings and venues. They can be courthouses, convention centers, sporting venues, museums, parks, civic plazas, transportation hubs, concert venues, [farmer’s] markets, schools, jails, parking facilities, and/or government offices. Each of these venues provide to the general public something different, but are at least partially funded by public dollars. And they don’t necessarily provide something for EVERY person (not everyone has kids that go to schools, for instance).
It would seem the prudent thing to do for a Civic investment would be to provide something that fulfills as many of these different types as possible within one footprint to maximize the investment. The ones that easily come to mind would be - sporting venue, civic plaza, [farmer’s] market, park, and concert venue. A museum would be a nice addition, depending on the chosen site. Ultimately, the building should be used by more than just baseball fans, if it will be successful. And it should be operated in a cooperative manner to be useful to a wide range of the public.
Given that criteria, we can continue the argument for where to put this Civic building and how to pay for it.
As always the newspaper has proved is bias by putting the story on the Diamond renovation on B2. This is the best alternative and it doesn’t cost the already overtaxed City Resident much more and gives all the metropolitan area a chance to have baseball again. I guess that Mr.Diradour doesn’t realize he has to “wine and dine” the city officals to get any attention from them or the newspaper.
NOTE: Mr. Diradour:
The current Mayor and former Mayor along with the Executive Editor of the Richmond Times-Dispatch like Bookbinders in Shockoe Bottom:
Baseballfan12….scale and support are the keys to anything like this. Personally, I think not one dime of taxpayer money or borrowing should be spent on pro baseball, basketball or football stadiums…they are as industries awash in money from television which contributes to people not coming out..easy to stay home and watch yet tv depends on cities to build stadiums…not fair returns on the deal.
I’ve looked at the newish Lynchburg stadium and if that’s the class ball team that the city can attract then that’s all that the team or the league should build.
I agree the city as a development entity does not know what it is. By default, the city of Richmond has become an identity as Virginia Commonwealth University. They have grown, expanded, taken up land everywhere and put school buildings, hospital buildings and sports buildings up in their place.
The city just doesn’t seem to have its own identity so Eugene Trani, now retired, stepped into the fray and developed the city for VCU, now the largest public university in the state. It wiped out slum after slum in the process, something the city of Richmond never had the will to do. The police chiefs get credit for making the crime numbers go down. It ought to be Eugene P. Trani who wiped out the housing where drugs and all that flourished and replaced them with University buildings.
I don’t have the answer to what Richmond’s identity should be but it began to lose it in about 1970 when Judge Mehridge made his now famous forced school busing decision and huge segments of population fled the city. Those who left had in many cases been running the city and when that changed, the identity became fractured and diffuse and remains so to this day, save Eugene P. Trani and VCU. I recall after that decision that there were so many characters in city government too numerous to mention: Chuck Richardson, drug addict, and on and on. They weren’t worried about the city, just power I guess.
Give the Diamond to VCU and quit trying to get a pro team. It isn’t supported here with public money and there are too many other things to do here in my opinion. It won’t help baseball fans but there aren’t enough of you to force the rest of us in the metro area to pay for more than $46plus million dollar stadiums. Just an opinion but I’ve read and watched this for a while and the fans aren’t many though they are dedicated.
Lance
Lance - I agree that the scale needs to fit the market. That was the plan with The Bottom, too, to have a much smaller ballpark than The Diamond. The problem is that these guys do small parks with really lousy materials. Would you go to a Home Depot, or a Wal-mart to watch a game? If you change the shape of the building and put in a baseball field, that’s what they build. And I’m not saying this to be sarcastic - it’s true. The closest one that I’ve seen in person is in Bowie, Maryland - between DC and Annapolis. Check it out here http://www.digitalballparks.com/Eastern/Bowie1.html, which must have been taken many years ago because was there 2 years ago and it hasn’t aged well.
It’s kind of like going to a Carnival - you might go once, but after you see how nasty the place is (and the hair on that lady’s back), you won’t go back.
As for the money, consider this. The Diamond originally cost $18 million in 1985. Now we’re talking about another $28 million, which experts will tell you is not enough, and taxpayer will contribute to in some way. That’s a minimum of $46 million put into a building and a location that research will tell you will NEVER be successful because nobody can develop anything immediately around it for people to enjoy.
Why should this City have a $46 million “asset” that doesn’t have a strong value? If you owned a Pinto, would it be a wise investment to keep dumping money into it, or at some point, do you need to wise up and admit that you made a bad purchase, and purchase a better vehicle?
Check the RMA sizes of other minor league teams. Richmond isn’t some podunk town. There are 1.2 million people in our RMA and only 3 or 4 larger than us that don’t have a MAJOR league team.
I just can’t figure out why we seem to be so complacent. And I don’t say that to be negative, but just as an observation.
If anyone had to say what the IDENTITY of Richmond is - what is it? Are we an art town? We’re moderately recognized it seems - there are certainly much better and much worse places for art. Are we a History City? We have as much history as Williamsburg, if not more, but I don’t believe our historical visitors revenue would remotely compare. Are we a corporate city? Most of our corporate headquarteres (what’s left of them) are in the suburbs.
With all of the potential that Richmond has, it would be incredible for it to have an identity, characterised by it’s greatest “assets”.
baseballfan12…I did go to the ODP site and it looks for a thousand reasons like what they do is about the scale that Richmond might actually support.
Ultimately, we’re talking about public money because these minor league teams don’t seem able economically to fund their own sport. If that’s so, huge parks and developments in this area where baseball is only really supported by a few isn’t going to fly on any fancy, grandiose scale.
Alternatively, don’t you wonder what each ticket for each game would cost if all of the costs were supported by the game itself? Probably be $300-400 a ticket for bleachers if public money didn’t underwrite it.
Something scaled down and not grandiose is about all that might, and I repeat might, fly here.
Lance
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