The Richmond Fair is official. The carnival-style fair once planned for Henrico County will set up shop in the parking lots surrounding The Diamond starting next Friday and running through July 26. The Richmond Metropolitan Authority, which owns The Diamond, confirmed today that it had signed a contract for the event with Fair Nation Inc. It allows the fair use of everything except the stadium and playing surface at the Diamond’s location on the Boulevard, two blocks south of Interstate 64/95.

Professional baseball won’t return to Richmond until next year, but its presence apparently will be noticeable starting next month. Minor League Baseball and the Eastern League plan to assign a Class AA franchise to Richmond before Aug. 1. When that happens, “somebody is going to go in there and somebody is going to take Richmond by storm,“ Joe McEacharn, the Eastern League president, said yesterday.

A long-term ballpark solution will be addressed by the city and neighboring counties after the new franchise has formally relocated and the ownership group can join discussions. Talks would initially involve a lease agreement at The Diamond. It’s expected team owners will contribute to the construction of a new facility or transformation of The Diamond.

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.

Charlie Diradour today held a news conference at The Diamond to encourage unity and reception of the new minor league baseball team headed for Richmond. “We want this to be the most welcoming city that a minor league franchise has ever seen,“ Diradour said. Additionally, he called on the city to contact Opening Day Partners about its plan to transform The Diamond.

The ownership group moving a Class AA baseball franchise to Richmond next season will commit more than $1 million for short-term improvements to The Diamond, the Eastern League president said yesterday. “We want to bring a first-class product to Richmond,“ Joe McEacharn said. “We are going to show our good faith not only by coming with a team, but we are going to substantially upgrade the product for the short term.“

The Richmond Metropolitan Authority will deal with a pair of short-term baseball issues and after that, perhaps be involved with a long-term ballpark plan, RMA General Manager Mike Berry said yesterday. The RMA, which owns and operates The Diamond on behalf of the city and Henrico and Chesterfield counties, is working with the Eastern League to secure one of its 12 Class AA franchises for next season.

A move by the Class AA Connecticut Defenders to Richmond under their current president/managing partner appears to be the most likely scenario for baseball at The Diamond next spring, sources involved with the situation say. Connecticut’s Lou DiBella earlier this month requested from Minor League Baseball permission to explore the Richmond market for the purpose of potentially relocating his franchise here. With members of his potential management team, DiBella visited Richmond this week and met with community leaders.

The continued lack of a ballpark plan “complicates” the Eastern League’s process of identifying a Class AA franchise and ownership group for Richmond, Eastern League President Joe McEacharn acknowledged yesterday, but he added “it’s a challenge that we are committed to meeting.“ McEacharn said he remains optimistic that one of the Eastern League’s dozen franchises will be based at The Diamond next season whether or not the Shockoe Center proposal and its $60 million ballpark gain city approval.

Transformation is the shared theme of two ballpark plans for Richmond. In October, Highwoods Properties proposed Shockoe Center, a development that includes a $60 million ballpark that would transform Shockoe Bottom. A minimum of two years would be required to build that stadium, if the proposal gains city approval. Then, last week, Opening Day Partners presented a $28 million transformation of The Diamond on the Boulevard, a facility that opened in 1985. Just about everything but the field and part of the lower bowl would be demolished and removed, with a modern ballpark constructed on the stadium footprint, according to Maryland-based ODP. The transformed Diamond, says ODP, could be ready for baseball next season if construction begins Aug. 1.

Transformation is the shared theme of two ballpark plans for Richmond. In October, Highwoods Properties proposed Shockoe Center, a development that includes a $60 million ballpark that would transform Shockoe Bottom. A minimum of two years would be required to build that stadium, if the proposal gains city approval. Then, last week, Opening Day Partners presented a $28 million transformation of The Diamond on the Boulevard, a facility that opened in 1985. Just about everything but the field and part of the lower bowl would be demolished and removed, with a modern ballpark constructed on the stadium footprint, according to Maryland-based ODP. The transformed Diamond, says ODP, could be ready for baseball next season if construction begins Aug. 1.

Location: The ballpark would be framed by East Broad Street, North 18th Street, East Franklin Street and Ambler Street.
  Cost: $318 million for the entire project, which involves a $60 million ballpark.
  Ballpark capacity: 8,500.
  Features: Party decks, picnic area, grass berms, walkway around field, 24 suites, playground, computer-gaming area, high-definition scoreboard, Wi-Fi, capability of use for community-oriented events.

Along with its plan to essentially rebuild The Diamond, Opening Day Partners would like Richmond leaders to consider putting an independent-league franchise in the made-over facility. Minor League Baseball franchises are affiliated with Major League Baseball organizations. Independent leagues, such as the Atlantic League, are not. Opening Day Partners, which this week released its proposal for a $28 million transformation of The Diamond, owns three of the eight Atlantic League franchises with local partners, and operates a fourth. “The Atlantic League would love to make a presentation and show Richmond how much we want to be there,“ said Peter Kirk, chairman of ODP. He added that the Atlantic League will make an expansion team available to Richmond for next season.

An item initially appearing on Wednesday’s TimesDispatch.com reported that officials had rushed to investigate a woman’s dead body found on Kensington Avenue. The first 15 or 16 postings from readers made snarky comments about whether the paper was right or wrong to identify the neighborhood as “West End.“ A woman lay dead, and her fellow citizens responded with mindless chatter.

The chairman of the Richmond Metropolitan Authority’s board of directors and the RMA’s general manager said yesterday that they find a $28 million transformation plan for The Diamond intriguing and worthy of evaluation. James L. Jenkins, the chairman, and Mike Berry, the GM, added that they also find the Opening Day Partners proposal somewhat familiar. The RMA, which owns and operates The Diamond, and the Atlanta Braves seemed set in 2004 to proceed with a major facility renovation that Berry now sees as comparable in some respects to the $28 million plan ODP released yesterday.