As 2011 dawns, Chuck Domino foresees discussions this year that lead to a new Richmond ballpark for the 2014 season.
The chief executive manager of the Richmond Flying Squirrels, the San Francisco Giants' Double-A club, this week said "we think that the timetable that we set, to be in a new stadium for the baseball season of 2014, is still realistic."
Construction of a ballpark/field at a new site likely would require a minimum of 18 months, Domino said. Building a new ballpark adjacent to The Diamond, the stadium that opened in 1985, is the only plan currently being studied, he added.
"We're still investing a little bit of money in The Diamond to make things as comfortable as possible for our staff and our team and the fans for the next three years, but we really feel at this point that it's going to be only three more years at The Diamond," he said.
Lou DiBella, the president and CEO of the Squirrels, said "we remain optimistic, and everything is proceeding on course."
Neither DiBella nor Domino chose to provide a timeline or other details relative to the construction of a new ballpark. The franchise, which invested approximately $2 million in The Diamond before the 2010 season, would be willing to enter a construction agreement as "an equal partner" with the city and involved counties, DiBella said.
Tammy D. Hawley, press secretary to Richmond Mayor Dwight C. Jones, offered no comment from the mayor's office.
The Diamond, whose condition influenced the relocation of the Atlanta Braves' Triple-A franchise to Gwinnett County, Ga., following the 2008 season, is owned and operated by the Richmond Metropolitan Authority, which represents the city and counties of Henrico and Chesterfield.
The RMA remains involved in ballpark discussion among jurisdictions and the Squirrels. The site of the city's 30-acre fleet maintenance complex, on the Boulevard and separated from The Diamond by a parking lot along the first-base side, is the most likely spot for a new ballpark.
"At this point, the RMA is standing by to be of help wherever we can to facilitate these conversations and to coordinate [among] the jurisdictions," said James L. Jenkins, the RMA's board of directors chairman.
"I'm convinced we're going to have a new stadium. But these are still difficult economic times. I'm hopeful, as are a lot of other people, that 2011 is going to see us continue to ease out of this current slump and that tax revenues will begin to grow for the jurisdictions, and they can sort of look not only to sustaining their current operations, but to getting involved in some public projects, such as a new baseball stadium."
joconnor@timesdispatch.com
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