Lake Olmstead Stadium
Augusta, GA
Review by Gary
Bill Heaton must be turning over in his grave seeing what has become of the place where he built a ballpark for the people of Augusta, Georgia. In 1988, Heaton brought minor league baseball back to the city after a 25-year absence. He was a one-man team who largely paid for the stadium to be built and later purchased the South Atlantic League’s Macon Pirates. Heaton brought the team to the stadium that bore his name and they played here from 1988 until 1994.
In 1995, Heaton sold the team and it was renamed the Augusta GreenJackets for the that season. The grandstand at Heaton Stadium was completely rebuilt and the ballpark was renamed Lake Olmstead Stadium. The GreenJackets played here from 1995 through 2017 before relocating to their new facility across the nearby Savannah River in 2018. The new venue is called SRP Park and is in South Carolina in the town of North Augusta.
Heaton was quoted as being “hurt that the owners took his name off of his creation.” Today, Heaton would probably not mind that his moniker is not on what has become of this ballpark. Since 2021, Lake Olmstead Stadium has largely been abandoned. That was supposed to change a when a corporation came to town and struck a deal with the City of Augusta and its Development Authority with plans to redevelop the stadium into a new entertainment venue. It would resemble what became of Bridgeport, Connecticut’s Harbor Yard, with three separate raised seating areas installed around the edge of the infield facing the grandstand to create an outdoor theater-in-the-round look.
The city would completely fund the project in exchange for several days of free venue space over the span of 10 years. Big name performers were booked with tickets being sold for events to be held in 2022, but then construction suddenly halted. Work had been stopped due to reported soil instability on the grounds.
As of May 2025, the work has never resumed and this once-thriving ballpark looks like something out of Planet of the Apes. The Corporation has been ordered to pay millions for leaving it worse than they left it, but an on-going lawsuit keeps this former ballpark literally stuck in the mud, looking sad and ghastly. Its appearance is much worse than what was found at the abandoned Capital City Stadium in nearby Columbia, Georgia.
The powers-that-be should be ashamed of what is a waste of beautiful space overlooking the attractive Lake Olmstead. Neighbors and community members have offered ideas about what to do with this eyesore ranging from “outdoor recreation space for youth leagues, a skate park, soccer, BMX, skating, and walking/jogging.” Until something is done to reimagine Lake Olmstead Stadium, this area should be avoided like the plague. Please visit our Ballpark Friends at Ballpark Reviews.com to see what this stadium looked like in its heyday.
2025
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277
0 Hot Dogs
