New Baseball Stadium Solar Energy Project, One of the Largest Ever, Coming to Richmond
Soon, Richmond Flying Squirrels baseball fans will only need to look up, towards the top of the new stadium, to see Dominion Energy’s latest attempt to bring more power to the grid via renewable sources.
Arrays with a total of 1,700 solar panels will be installed on top of the stadium, slated to be built next year, and in the parking lot. They will produce one megawatt of energy that can provide power for an estimated 250 homes at peak output. While the project is small, Dominion said every bit helps in the rising demand for power.
“Every single megawatt counts, every single electron counts, and this Squirrels solar project is one way we’re making the energy we’re delivering to our Richmond customers clean and affordable and supporting our overall mission,” said Austin Jones, a manager of business development with Dominion.
The company has been striving to utilize urban areas where solar power can be produced, which would add to its solar initiatives in more rural areas.
Modesto Agrees on Downtown Site for Soccer Stadium
The Modesto City Council agreed that a proposed soccer stadium should be downtown, rather than at the former Municipal Golf Course. But the 6-0 vote Tuesday, Aug. 5, did not cut Muni out entirely: It could provide the practice fields for the pros in the United Soccer League and an academy for younger players.
The stadium would be built at and near Modesto Centre Plaza on K Street. It would cost an estimated $125 million, including perhaps $35 million in public financing. The city has not announced any private investors who might cover the rest. The tentative financing plan includes lease payments from the USL and an expected boost in sales, property and hotel taxes from the new attraction.
Colorado's Zebulon Sports Complex Could Be a Money Pit
The plans for the Zebulon Regional Sports Complex are huge.
On the drawing board are four baseball fields, three ice rinks and a pair of soccer fields. Eight to 10 basketball courts — which can be converted into 20 volleyball courts or 30 pickleball courts — are also in the mix. Add in a 400,000-square-foot, domed indoor sports facility that will house more fields for year-round play, and you get a sense of Zebulon’s scale once it’s built in northern Douglas County.
And that’s just the first phase, which could break ground as soon as this fall on a 50-acre parcel just southeast of the master-planned Sterling Ranch community. Later phases could bring as many as eight additional sports fields, along with restaurants, shops and a hotel — in what Douglas County Commissioner Abe Laydon calls a potential “economic development corridor.”
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