STYLE Weekly: 'A Diamond Ring'

Tom Nash at STYLE Weekly writes about the A Ring Around the Diamond event scheduled at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 27. 

Opponents of Mayor Dwight Jones’ plan to build a baseball stadium in Shockoe Bottom say they're going to encircle the city’s current ballpark Sunda

Click here to read the entire piece. 

So, as the momentum has snowballed in the last two days, I've been asked several times how many people I expect, and whatnot. But since there's no precedent for this stunt/demonstration, I've had to laugh and say, "I don't know."

How could I know? Nothing quite like this has happened before, at least, not in Richmond. However, I do know this:

If we could turnout just 10 percent of those who want to protect historically significant Shockoe Bottom from a wrongheaded development, and 10 percent of those who want to renovate the Diamond, and 10 percent of those who prefer to build a new stadium on the Boulevard, and 10 percent of those who think professional baseball would likely fail in Shockoe Bottom, and 10 percent of those who don’t think the city should misuse its limited ability to borrow money on spectator sports -- instead of fixing school roofs and crumbling roadways -- well, that would put several rings of 1,000 people each around the Diamond.

No, this isn't a referendum. It won't guarantee us anything, but now we who oppose Shockoe Stadium, for whatever reasons, can all finally do something -- something! -- to demonstrate our sentiments. Yes, today you can help spread the word; invite your friends.

Show up on Sunday, if you can. Let’s have some harmless fun and create a memory that will always bring smiles to our faces. Why not?

Click here to see the A Ring Around the Diamond event page on Facebook. 

-- Photo of the Diamond by Scott Elmquist for STYLE Weekly.