RICHMOND, Va. — The owner of the Richmond Flying Squirrels has come out swinging in an open letter to Richmond. Lou DiBella is irked the City of Richmond was able to move quickly to build a training facility for the Washington Redskins and fund World Cycling Championship, yet has not been able to make progress on a new stadium for the Flying Squirrels.
“While plans for a redevelopment of the Bottom that included a new ballpark slowed and screeched to a halt, the Squirrels watched how quickly the Redskins Training Center was funded and built. The Redskins train in Richmond for approximately three weeks a year. We attended a press conference announcing that Richmond would host the World Cycling Championship. While a great event, it is hosted in a different international city every year,” DiBella wrote. “We also saw how speedily the City Council approved the Stone Brewing project, which included $23 million in bond funding. We have patiently awaited our turn, believing that baseball was not lured back to Richmond under false pretenses. A state of the art minor league stadium is needed to meet the standards and needs of Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, and today’s baseball fan.”
DiBella said the last six years in Richmond have been spent meeting with the Mayor and other city and county leaders, but there was like to show for the effort.
“Unfortunately, it seems that the vigor of attracting something new to Richmond takes precedence over a genuine, good faith commitment to keep what is already working here,” DiBella wrote. “The Braves left town when a new stadium appeared a pipe dream. The Diamond has not become less obsolete, more structurally sound, or more user friendly since the Squirrels arrived. Our investment of money, time, and effort, the success that we have worked so hard to achieve, and the loyalty and support of the greatest fans a team could have, do not render the Diamond a suitable long-term home for baseball.”
Citing the 2016 end of the team’s lease at the Diamond , DiBella called the Flying Squirrels future in Richmond “uncertain.”
WTVR CBS 6 contacted the mayor’s office for comment on DiBella’s letter and received the following reply:
We appreciate your interest in the city’s effort related to baseball. A review of the matter shows how the city has stepped up and worked to find viable options, as DiBella’s letter acknowledges. However, we will not be addressing any Squirrel’s concerns in this fashion and prefer to speak directly to our partners on any of their concerns.
