CHARLESTON, W.Va. – Charleston City Council meets tonight with a vote scheduled to allow an amendment to the city’s stadium lease agreement with the ownership group behind the Charleston Dirty Birds, the independent professional baseball team that plays at city-owned GoMart Ballpark.
The current lease expires in May, and that amendment indicates that negotiations toward a long-term deal are ongoing between the city and the Charleston Professional Baseball Company. “The lease has been renewed, and what we’re trying to do is just add the things that we know, and team ownership is trying to add the things that they believe that they need,” Mayor Amy Shuler Goodwin said Monday on 580 Live with Dave Allen.
The amendment would be put in place to assure the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball that both the city and team intend to keep the Dirty Birds in Charleston while also guaranteeing the terms of the current agreement through the 2026 season. Goodwin is clear that city government wants the team to stay for the foreseeable future.
“It’s a city facility so we’re trying to manage the budget and add the things that we can and also look forward because what we want out of this is a long-term lease,” Goodwin said.
The Charleston Professional Baseball Company, led by managing partner Andy Shea, purchased the Dirty Birds, then known as the West Virginia Power, in 2021 and moved the franchise to the Atlantic League after it was dropped from affiliated minor league baseball as part of cutbacks by MLB. The capital city has hosted professional baseball continuously since 1987, and Charleston’s history with the game dates back to 1910.
“The city of Charleston needs baseball. We are going to have baseball. We just have to work out things in the lease. I’ll say this to you. We’ve invested in the ballpark, over the last couple of years, more than ever except when it was built, especially with the turf,” Goodwin said.
Goodwin said that potential updates to GoMart Ballpark may not be the flashiest, but they will be necessary for operating the facility. Opening Day for the 2026 season is April 21.
“It’s important stuff like upgrading bathrooms and tiling and some new carpeting; just things like that. Anytime you do a lease, and people who run businesses understand this as well, you’ve got to make sure that the lease suits everyone,” she said.
Charleston City Council meets tonight at 7 with the stadium lease amendment at the top of the agenda.