RICHMOND, Va. — For baseball fans under 40 years old, the Diamond is the only Richmond baseball stadium they know. More seasoned fans might remember its predecessor, Parker Field.
How and why did the Diamond come to be in 1985?
"The Atlanta Braves' major league club would tell the city, 'Hey, look, you know, Parker Field is okay, but it needs to be replaced,'" Mike O'Toole, who worked in stadium operations, said. "That's where the new stadium cry was starting, the groundswell back in the early '80s."
O'Toole credited former Richmond Braves General Manager Richard Andersen for starting to gather community support for a new stadium.
"One of the persons that stepped forward to help was Bobby Ukrop, and then another gentleman was Richard Hollander. The three of them were able to kind of start planning, kind of start discussing and doing what needed to be done. And that's when the Diamond started to come to fruition," O'Toole said.
Ukrop, who, along with his brother, was running the family's local grocery store chain at the time, knew there had to be community buy-in to make the stadium a success.
Watch: Saying goodbye to the Diamond after 40 years
"It wasn't something that was going to be dictated to people," Ukrop said. "I think for the government people and the private sector people to realize that there was a grassroots, there was a pent-up demand for doing something together and having a place where Henrico, Chesterfield, and Richmond residents could come together and enjoy professional sports. It wasn't about baseball. It was about the community."
After 40 years, the Diamond is hosting its final baseball season in 2025. The Richmond Flying Squirrels will play across the street at the still-under-construction CarMax Park in 2026.
What are your fondest memories at the Diamond? Email the CBS 6 Newsroom.
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