Batter Up, Richmond City Council

Whether or not the Richmond City Council will deliver on the proposal to move baseball into Shockoe Bottom may not be decided for some time yet. But one thing is for certain, they ought to take their time considering the deal.

This isn’t the same as the Sixth Street Market place fiasco, which faltered and failed right before council’s, and everyone else’s, very eyes. Richmond’s attempts at revitalization have been fraught with problems that run the gamut from lack of sufficient study to a variety of political shenanigans. One good judge of the future is to look at the past. And, in this case at least, it appears that Richmond City Council is taking the high road by ensuring that the proposal is something that they can live with.

Once completed, it will be much harder to get rid of than the remnants of Sixth Street Market Place were. There will be, first and foremost, the ballpark itself to deal with. What do you do with a failed baseball field in the middle of the downtown area?

According to a Graham Moomaw story in the Richmond Times-Dispatch recently, it would seem that council is taking the right approach. They are not just leaping out on faith, as they have in the past. They appear to be seriously considering the proposal, which one way or the other, would seriously affect the Bottom for decades to come.

There is little question that the city needs to upgrade the ballfield facilities if it hopes to keep a professional baseball team in town. That very reason was behind the Braves moving out, and now with the Squirrels it seems appropriate that the city consider this alternative.

The area in question, Shockoe Bottom, could use some serious revitalization. Some of the amendments that Councilman Charles R. Samuels has called for seem reasonable. Certainly, the archaeological excavation and an updated traffic study seem on target. But the one drawback in his proposal was creating a development plan for the Boulevard. That’s not to say that such a plan doesn’t have merit, but my experience with such plans is that they often take years to finalize. We don’t have years to wait.

As it is with any project of this magnitude, doing the work up front to ensure you get most of what you want is the only way to go. Plan, plan, plan and hope that not too many unknown unknowns get in the way to make you have to modify the plans too often, or God forbid, too late in the process when change is most costly.

The one thing you really don’t want to happen is to find a show stopper when you are waste deep into the project. So, for me, taking the time up front to make sure the project is something you can live with is paramount.

From my personal perspective, I rarely go to the Bottom. An occasional foray to Bottom’s Up is one thing, or the obligatory side trip of taking visiting family members to see the Poe Museum or to head up to Church Hill is another. But to go to the Bottom for pretty much any other reason is not something that is high on my personal agenda.

Putting a ball park there would change that for me. As it is, I don’t attend many games at The Diamond. Driving and parking issues always seem to get in the way for me. Still, I am a baseball fan—I’ve attended hundreds and hundreds of ball games throughout Virginia, but I want my entertainment made easy.

If they do it right, and I suspect if Richmond City Council votes in favor of this proposal eventually, it will be done right, then I would definitely be in line for tickets more often.

There’s little question that this would change the face of Richmond’s downtown area. There is also little question that if it isn’t done right, you could end up with a Cubic Zirconia instead of a Diamond. So, take your time Richmond City Council. Make sure you cover all the bases before you take your turn at bat.