Contractors selected for baseball stadium

Gilbane Building Co. and the Massachusetts-based Prestige Construction Group have been selected by the Richmond Flying Squirrels minor league baseball team to build a new stadium in Richmond, Viriginia, to host the Flying Squirrels and teams from nearby Virginia Commonwealth University.

According to Rhode Island-based Gilbane, the planned 10,000-seat Richmond Diamond District Ballpark will have an industrial, warehouse feel meant to pay homage to Richmond’s railway lineage.

The design of the stadium project is being managed by the Houston-based Machete Group and is being billed as part of a wider Diamond District development in Richmond.

“We’re excited to have formed a dream team with Gilbane and Prestige to build our new home,” says Lou Dibella, managing general partner of the Flying Squirrels. “Their experience speaks for itself, and I am confident they will deliver a first-class venue for our fans and the Richmond community.”

The stadium is being built near an existing one called The Diamond built in the mid-1980s. Although a news release issued by Gilbane does not mention the fate of the current ballpark, it is described as “dilapidated” by one local TV station, so a demolition project may be imminent.

“Gilbane is a proven ballpark builder with roots right here in Richmond, Virginia,” says Maggie Reed, business leader for Gilbane’s Richmond office. “We’ve been building in Richmond for over 30 years, so for us, this project is more than a new stadium. It’s an opportunity to invest in the community we call home.”

Gilbane says the project can be completed in less than two years, in time for the 2026 baseball season. It will not be the company’s first stadium project: in 2014 and 2015 it oversaw an offseason renovation of Progressive Field in Cleveland that entailed the removal of upper deck seating and supporting structures in right field; the demolition and removal concession stands and restrooms in that area; the redesign of a stadium entrance; construction of a new two-story indoor-outdoor bar; the renovation of a children’s recreation area; and the construction of new stacked bullpens in center field.

On its website, Gilbane lists as among its six top sustainability priorities to achieve a minimum 75 percent construction waste diversion rate on projects and to utilize recycled materials.

Should a baseball stadium demolition project ensue, it may not be the only sports facility facing a dismantling process in Richmond. Local media reports indicate the Richmond Coliseum, an indoor sports and concert venue that opened in 1971, is being discussed as a demolition target by civic officials.

That 50,000-square-foot building, which can seat 13,000 people, has been vacant since 2019 and is the subject of a plan that would see it demolished to be replaced by a residential development with several buildings that combined could have up to 2,000 units.

As of May, city officials say securing the empty building is costing some $500,000 annually while they wants to budget $3 million for the demolition of the structure (and presumably any related abatement needs), according to WRIC.