Lehigh Valley Multi-Purpose Sport Complex

The Lehigh Valley Multi-Purpose Sport Complex (also known as Williams Township Ballpark) was a proposed $15 million, 6,400 seat stadium that was slated to be built directly off I-78 in Williams Township, Pennsylvania, near Easton. The project would become one of the most expensive sporting complex failures in recent history.

The idea for the stadium was originally devised by Paoli, Pennsylvania businessman Thomas X. Flaherty. Plans were for the new stadium to host the Lehigh Valley Black Diamonds of the independent Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, as well as the Lehigh Valley Steam of pro soccer's A-League. Flaherty had considered the following factors in building the stadium:

The Black Diamonds were owned by the Lehigh Valley Professional Sports Club, which was controlled by Flaherty. The land the stadium was to be built on was owned by a Pennsylvania non-profit organization, Northwestern Human Services (NHS), on whose Board of Trustees Flaherty sat. The non-profit qualified for a $5 million grant from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; NHS hoped that its involvement in the stadium would raise its profile in the community and create awareness for its programs. Plans were for the Black Diamonds to open their 1998 season in the new park; however, construction was delayed and did not commence until December 1998. Plans were changed for play at the stadium to start in the 2000 season. In the meantime, the construction delay caused the Lehigh Valley Steam soccer team to fold, after playing its sole season in 1999 on various high school fields in the area.

In 1998, the Black Diamonds would play their home games at aging Delano-Hitch Stadium in Newburgh, New York as the Newburgh Black Diamonds. Since the Lehigh Valley park would not be ready until 2000, Atlantic League president Bud Harrelson announced the Black Diamonds to would return to Newburgh in 1999—if the city built a new stadium. They did not, forcing the club to play its entire season on the road.

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