News VCU Athletic Village

Scuffy McGee said:
Gotcha. When were they installed? Over a few seasons ago? You would still think that rationally, a new stadium that has gotten all this pomp and circumstance would get new, modern, potentially technologically advanced, state of the art lights. With the emphasis being on new.
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Those lights were installed at the Diamond within the last 3 years and I'm pretty sure they are LED. The lights are now on at CarMax just about every night while they work and are extremely bright, as they were at the Diamond. No way the Flying Squirrells were going to toss a new lighting system installed within the past 3 years.

"The new lights installed at "The Diamond" in Richmond, Virginia, are powerful, energy-efficient LED systems with BallTracker Technology, designed by Musco Lighting, featuring 14 poles and over 100 fixtures to dramatically improve visibility and broadcast quality for the Richmond Flying Squirrels.."
 
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Ramaholic said:
I am surprised the Squirrels would install state of the art lighting in an arena that was going to be demolished and in a city that may not even have MiLB. We had a suite there and the squirrels didnt fix anything in those suites the past few years bc they knew they would be leaving.
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If you remember, years ago when the new video board and seats were installed by the Flying Squirrels, they stated they had plans to relocate the video board and seats to the new stadium. Of course that was years ago and lots of wear and tear on both since that make both outdated. Thanks not the case with the stadium lighting.
 
Wolfpack Ram said:
Those lights were installed at the Doamond within the last 3 years and I'm pretty sure they are LED. The lights are now on at CarMax just about every night while they work and are extremely bright, as they were at the Diamond. No way the Flying Squirrells were going to toss a new lighting system installed within the past 3 years.

"The new lights installed at "The Diamond" in Richmond, Virginia, are powerful, energy-efficient LED systems with BallTracker Technology, designed by Musco Lighting, featuring 14 poles and over 100 fixtures to dramatically improve visibility and broadcast quality for the Richmond Flying Squirrels.."
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Ok. Then those new lights have been moved. When I walk past the diamond each night, the quality of lighting is much better at Car Max. I bet the Diamond has put up old lighting in place while they had the electricians on site just in case.
 
Ramaholic said:
The article says it was a "non binding memorandum of understanding". In other words, it was meaningless. But VCU used the moment to make it look like things were fine and progressing in the right direction.
This was known in earlier times as "fiddling while Rome burns"
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Why would someone sign a nonbinding memorandum of understanding at a press conference and then tell the press it is the finalized lease? That is past just being incompetent. It was also my understanding that VCU was the party holding out from signing that lease agreement until it happened in October, not the stadium authority or the Flying Squirrels.
 
Ramaholic said:
Ok. Then those new lights have been moved. When I walk past the diamond each night, the quality of lighting is much better at Car Max. I bet the Diamond has put up old lighting in place while they had the electricians on site just in case.
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The poles in the outfield were also moved and last I checked last week there were no lights on the stadium roof. Pretty sure there is no lighting at all at the Diamond at this point, and it was verified by someone at VCU at the SLU game that all of VCU's home games at the Diamond would be day games.
 
Wolfpack Ram said:
Why would someone sign a nonbinding memorandum of understanding at a press conference and then tell the press it is the finalized lease? That is past just being incompetent. It was also my understanding that VCU was the party holding out from signing that lease agreement until it happened in October, not the stadium authority or the Flying Squirrels.
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That is what I thought too. You probably have a more accurate info with your source than anybody here reading the releases. It seems what is being said publicly is just controlling the narrative that each party (VCU, Squirrels, City) wants to frame.
 
Ramaholic said:
That is what I thought too. You probably have a more accurate info with your source than anybody here reading the releases. It seems what is being said publicxally is just controlling the narrative that each party (VCU, Squirrels, City) wants to frame.
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I'm not sure who to beieve at this point. The athletic village track field is still a construction site so I don't know how the track team could even use it this spring. VCU did cut back on their track seating plans and it was rejected by the state architectural review board, and VCU was told to come back to the table with new plans. That was in the fall. It doesn't look like VCU has moved further on construction of that seating since.

Lot's of unanswered questions here. Not sure if it's bad reporting or VCU not being transparent regarding what's going on.
 
Scuffy McGee said:
Why would VCU play there in 2027 but not 2026? Rent / financial reasons not seeing eye to eye with the squirrels? Stadium mkt going to be ready?
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CarMax Park is still under construction. VCU baseball is currently practicing and their first home game is February 13th against Holy Cross. CarMax is not supposed to be finished until sometime in February - if they are still on schedule. The lights are on most nights at CarMax as they are working late into the evening trying to meet their deadline. VCU can't play in a construction zone.
 
Wolfpack Ram said:
CarMax Park is still under construction. VCU baseball is currently practicing and their first home game is February 13th against Holy Cross. CarMax is not supposed to be finished until sometime in February - if they are still on schedule. The lights are on most nights at CarMax as they are working late into the evening trying to meet their deadline. VCU can't play in a construction zone.
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Their season goes beyond February though no? Why not start playing there once’s it’s finished in February or when the squirrels season starts? They would only have to play what 6 or so games at The Diamond then?
 
Hopefully it's not over and they are playing negotiation games. VCU hasn't sold Sportsbackers stadium to the city yet either. Fingers crossed
 
Scuffy McGee said:
Their season goes beyond February though no? Why not start playing there once’s it’s finished in February or when the squirrels season starts? They would only have to play what 6 or so games at The Diamond then?
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It's not that simple. Once the stadium is finished, the Flying Squirrels have to move in and get acclimated to the new stadium. Plus, I'm sure the field is not in playable condition yet. And that's assuming it is completed in Febreuary. The Flying Squirrels first priority is making sure the stadium is ready for their season opener. They are the primary tennant.
 
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Ramaholic said:
I am surprised the Squirrels would install state of the art lighting in an arena that was going to be demolished and in a city that may not even have MiLB. We had a suite there and the squirrels didnt fix anything in those suites the past few years bc they knew they would be leaving. But with construction costs soaring, I guess you gotta do whatever it takes. I don't think anyone being interviewed (the Squirrels, the City or VCU) is giving us the real on what is truly happening with the new ball park.
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I think for the past few years they were mostly focused on improvements that they could transition over to the new stadium. It wouldn't surprise me if that was the plan all along regarding the lights. I do not believe they are very old.
 
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