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Boswell Looks at Everything Wrong By the Ballpark
Wednesday's Post has a column by Tom Boswell ("Nationals Park: Best of a Bad Lot") listing the myriad problems he sees with the ballpark and its surroundings, with Opening Day now just a month away. The Navy Yard subway station. The parking situation. The Florida Rock site ("an enormous and inexcusable 5.8-acre eyesore" that will be "sitting there all season, damaging the river views from all the ramps to the first base upper deck"). (He does mention that fences to obscure the view at ground level will be going up, which I posted about a few days ago.) The WASA site (which "would be the Most Unsightly Thing Near Any Big League Park if Florida Rock and Gravel hadn't already retired the trophy.") The Monument Half Street site, where he says "construction has stopped." The fact that city views are only available in the cheap seats.
But he ends with a stab at optimism: "Someday, the Anacostia riverfront will amaze us, just maybe not as soon as we hoped. When it comes to fulfilling huge civic dreams, what's a few years, more or less. In for a dime, in for a decade. "
On the other hand, the article confirms that the garages, which have long been a focal point of much complaining, will indeed be covered, as has long been shown in the renderings, with "league logos, replicas of the 'Washington All-Stars' from the right field scoreboard in RFK as well as colorful baseball-themed ads."
 

Ballpark Fireworks Testing Tonight
This just in from the Metropolitan Police Department (on the MPD-1D mailng list): "Between 6pm - 7pm tonight, as part of their pre-game checks, the Nationals will be setting off fireworks at the new stadium. DCFD, the Fire Marshall and MPD will be on the scene."
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Roundup: Pope Tix, Bus Garage, Cancellations
* The Post says that 14,000 tickets to the April 17 Mass at Nationals Park will be distributed to 120 Catholic diocese outside of the Archdiocese of Washington, with the Diocese of Arlington getting 6,000 and the Archdiocese of Baltimore getting 2,500. And on Friday, parishes that are part of the Archdiocese of Washington will find out how many tickets they're getting--parish priests will then decide how to distribute tickets within the parish.
* The Examiner has a story about the Southeastern Bus Garage site and that the Nationals and Metro are in talks to provide 350 gameday parking spaces at the garage (plus three nearby WMATA-owned parking lots, though that's not specified in the article). The only real news in the article is that a judge is expected to rule this week on Monument Realty's lawsuit over the sale of the garage site to Akridge. For more background, read all my posts on the bus garage saga.
* Yesterday's scheduled council hearing on Monument's request to close the alley on Square 700 just north of the closed BP Amoco station was cancelled. No new session has been posted on the calendar.
* And the agenda for Thursday's WMATA Planning, Development and Real Estate Committee does not include anything on the joint development of the chiller plant site at Half and L, as had been anticipated back in January. Maybe next month?
* If you think you're excited about the local food vendors at the ballpark announced yesterday, you should read Marc Fisher.
* UPDATE: I've gotten word that the long article in the March Washingtonian on the ballpark is now online. The other related article, about residential developments planned around the stadium, won't be posted for a couple of weeks. So you'll just have to go buy it, I guess. And perhaps you too can then be like the poor soul at Safeway on Sunday reading that article, who got accosted by a pesky blogger in line in front of him pointing to a name on the page, saying, "That's me." Thankfully he didn't call security.
 

March 22 GW Game at Ballpark Confirmed
The Post is confirming this afternoon the rumors I mentioned over the weekend: "The George Washington University baseball team will inaugurate the playing field [at Nationals Park] in a game against St. Joseph's University on March 22, GW officials and Nationals executives will announce as early as tomorrow." But it would be a bit of a dry run: "Attendance at the college game, which would be in the afternoon, would not be open to the general public and would instead be limited to GW and St. Joseph's fans, said sources familiar with the plans[.]"
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More Local Foods for the Ballpark
In a press release just sent out by the Nationals, the team announced partnerships with 10 local food vendors for the ballpark. They are: Ben's Chili Bowl, Boardwalk Fries, Southwest's own Cantina Marina, Kosher Sports, Krazee Ice, Hard Times Cafe, La Piccola Gelateria, Mayorga Coffee, Noah's Pretzels, and Red Hot & Blue. (A partnership with Gifford's Ice Cream was announced a few weeks ago.) Read the release for details on the offerings of each vendor.
And, speaking of partnerships, WBJ is reporting that JK Moving & Storage has signed a deal to be the team's official moving company.
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Washingtonian Articles, Signs, and More
The Southwest Freeway now says there's a ballpark in our midst, so it must be true! (And of course the Bike Route signs started telling us this last week.)
Other news of the morning:
* The March issue of Washingtonian (not yet available online, but now on newsstands) has two articles of possible interest. One is an overview of the ballpark itself. The other is called "Ballpark Living: Can the Nationals Stadium Do For an Up-and-Coming Waterfront Neighborhood What the Verizon Center did for Downtown DC?", in which yours truly gets a mention. It's mainly an overview of the neighborhood's offerings now and down the road, most of which should be no surprise to anyone visiting here on a regular basis. UPDATE, 2/26: The article on the ballpark is now available online, though the other one isn't there yet.
* Speaking of magazines with special ballpark offerings, I mentioned On Site magazine last week--I'm told it's available this week (bundled with the current issue of the Washington Business Journal) at CVS, Borders, and Barnes & Noble.
* In both of these magazines, there's an updated rendering of the Monument's 340-unit residential building slated to be finished by the end of 2009 on the northeast corner of Half and N, just across from the ballpark's Center Field Gate. Monument was kind enough to pass it along, and I've added it to my Monument Half Street page (scroll down past the 55 M stuff).
And, be sure to catch my new photos from inside the ballpark (both inside and INSIDE) if you haven't seen them.
 

Photos of The Innards of the Ballpark (and More)
Yesterday I posted what I've always called the "interior" photos of the ballpark, showing the field and the seating areas. But of course, there's now much more to see than just bleachers and cupholders, with the many concession and operations areas inside the structure itself now nearing completion. So here's a gallery of the Interior of the Interior (ahem), including the locker room (seen above), the Presidents and Diamond clubs, the club lounge, and various other spots.
But that's not all. I took the opportunity to add some additional links to the "Interior Views" tab on my ballpark page:
* Views of the Neighborhood - I think one of the biggest surprises for fans making their first visits to Nationals Park will be the wide-ranging views of the city skyline at the ballpark, from the view at everyone's seats of the changing skyline of Near Southeast to gazing up and down the banks of the Anacostia River to the wide vistas of Southwest and Northwest. (Of course, these views look their best when the sun is shining, which I was robbed of in the photos taken yesterday. Yes, I'm still whining.)
* Interior Construction, 2006-2007 - This is a tossed-together automated page that simply displays in chronological order the photos I've posted from inside the ballpark since my first trip inside the fences in October 2006, through the unveiling of the turf in November 2007. They say this will be the fastest construction of a major-league ballpark ever--these photos show just how quickly it went.
* Demolished Buildings - Lifted from my main Demolished Buildings gallery, this page shows what was on the site of the ballpark before the wrecking ball arrived in May 2006.
If you haven't yet seen the dreary overcast photos from yesterday of the field, seats, and concourses, you can check those out, too. And there's also the images of the ballpark's exterior, last updated two weeks ago. (When the sun was out.)
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Morning Ballpark Roundup
It's probably best to steer clear of me today, because I'm going to be spending the entire day mumbling profanities as I look up at the gorgeous cloudless skies. But if you want to see what the ballpark would look like if it were transported to, say, Detroit in the dead of winter, be sure to look at my photos from inside the stadium taken yesterday morning. Later today I'll put up pictures from the interior of the building, where at least the weather didn't play quite so much of a role. In the meantime, here's some quick items on the ballpark:
* The Post has two articles today on Nationals Park--one looking at the resident hiring goals that were set versus the actual number of DC workers that have been hired, plus a much lighter look at yesterday's testing of the plumbing system, aka "Super Flush."
* A few people have written to ask me about news that has been mentioned either on the radio or in an MLB.com video that the first game at Nationals Park will actually be a March 22 game between George Washington University and St. Joseph's. GW's schedule shows the game as being played in Arlington, and I've seen no official word anywhere on this game, but the rumor is out there. Nationals owner Ted Lerner is a GW graduate and patron.
* I've also been asked lately about newer renderings of the stadium that no longer show the big baseball on top of the outfield restaurant (which is now called the "Red Porch Restaurant"). It is indeed no longer part of the ballpark plans. The cherry blossom trees will still be coming, though!
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New Ballpark Interior Photos (At Last) -- Pt. 1
Sometimes you have to use your camera in the weather you have, not the weather you wish you had.
So, alas my first visit inside Nationals Park in more than three months came today, with heavy clouds and dampness in the air. Waaaaaaah! But at least these photos only have to last another five weeks or so.
I'm going to do this in two batches: tonight, enjoy a new lineup of photos of the ballpark's field and the seating areas. (I left a few from November sprinkled in, so that the pretty green turf and a smidgen of actual sunlight could be seen here or there.) There's also a slew of new very very large stitched-together panoramas from various vantage points, if you're wanting much closer views of the stadium's interior--there are links to them from the page above, or from the Stadium Panoramas page. They do take a long time to load, so be patient. (You can look at the exterior photos I posted two weeks ago if you can't bear the gray-itude of these shots and need sun and blue skies.)
Tomorrow I'll have for you a series of photos from the park's innards, including the restaurants and the locker room.
UPDATE: I forgot the best side-story of the day: Today was also "Super Flush", when the plumbing team brings in a bunch of people to flush the toilets at the same time to test the pipes. (And, not to be ungrateful, but perhaps my preference might have been that a big "Super Flush" banner not be running in HD on the scoreboard during all my photos.)
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Confirmation: Onyx Switches to Rentals
The rumors have abounded for many months that Onyx on First would be scrapping its original configuration as a condo building. As recently as November I couldn't get co-developer Faison to comment, but in today's WBJ/On Site piece (subscribers only) on the residential market in Near Southeast, there's the following: "But Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund and its partner, Faison, converted the project to apartments eight months ago, says Don Deutsch, Faison's senior managing director. Those apartments will be available for leasing in September."
The article also says that Monument Realty hasn't yet decided whether its 340 residential units on Half Street just north of the ballpark will be condos or apartments.
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More posts: Onyx, Square 743N
 

WBJ On Site: In Depth on Near Southeast
I believe it's only available to subscribers, but if you've got any way to get your hands on this week's Washington Business Journal, you'll probably want to see the quarterly magazine "On Site" that's included--seven stories on development around the ballpark, as well as a big map showing all the plans over the next few years (what a great idea!). Stories on Monument Realty and on the plans for The Yards, an interview with Michael Stevens of the BID ("Preaching Patience in Washington Nationals' New Neighborhood"), a piece highlighting how residential developers are feeling bullish about the area, and even a short profile of some pesky neighborhood blogger who's been tracking the area since 2003. I haven't read all the stories yet (it's gonna take a while!), so if I find some nuggets that I haven't covered here in the past, I'll post them.
UPDATE: Also, the March issue of Washingtonian is hitting the stands (though the articles won't be online for a while), with articles on the ballpark and also on the planned residential projects nearby.
 

Diamond Teague Park: First Phase by End of 2008
As the clock ticks toward Opening Day (38 days away!), it's normal to be wondering about the status of some of the other projects near the ballpark. I've just gotten an update from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development on Diamond Teague Park, the planned public plaza with water taxi piers on the banks of the Anacostia just across from the stadium's grand staircase at First and Potomac. The design of the park is being finalized, but you can see recent site maps and renderings on my project page (there are also links to enlarged versions of those images for better viewing).
The city is continuing to work with the Army Corps of Engineers to get permits for the piers. After the Army Corps signs off, some DC permits will need to be approved, and then construction on the park's first phase can begin--this will include all of the "in-water improvements" (i.e., the piers) and the portion of the park that's closest to the waterline. It's expected that this first phase will be completed by the time winter arrives in late 2008. The northern portion of the park site sits on land controlled by WASA, and must wait for those operations to be relocated before that part of the park can be built.
In the meantime, the park site will be "beautified" for Opening Day, with plans for a bit of a cleanup, new plantings, sandstone, etc.
As for the RiverFront site next door (which we all know as Florida Rock but which the developers want me to call either "FRP" or "RiverFront" to prevent confusion between themselves [Florida Rock Properties/FRP Development Corp.] and the not-involved-with-developing-the-site Florida Rock Industries)--I've been told that new fences will be put up around the site by Opening Day, to pretty things up a bit along that stretch as well.
 

Ballpark and Beyond Column This Week
My Ballpark and Beyond column in today's District Extra of the Post covers last week's release of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for South Capitol Street, the impending closure of Metro's Southeastern Bus Garage at Half and M, tonight's zoning hearing on allowing additional temporary surface parking lots in Southwest, and a reminder about today's ballpark job fair.
(And I've been under the weather the past few days, hence the somewhat brief updates.)
 

Morning Ballpark Linkage: Pope Blog, Stadium Interior
* City Paper points us to a new blog by the WashTimes tracking all the news surrounding the Pope's April visit to the United States. Including, of course, the April 17 mass at Nationals Park. There's also the news that a 14-foot-tall crucifix from St. Mark's Church in Hyattsville has been selected to be displayed at the stadium mass.
* Nats320 continues with its series of, um, lengthy interviews, this time with the man whose company is going to be "dressing" the ballpark.
* I'm not sure why some news organizations are only now reporting this (since it was announced last week), but in case you missed it, single-game tickets for Nats games go on sale March 4.
* On Feb. 28, there's a gathering planned for people to share stories of the gay businesses along O Street SE that were shut down to make way for the ballpark.
* Check the stadium web cam's images from last night to see the ballpark's lights all turned on.
 

On Budget? Over Budget? A Look at the Numbers
Tim Lemke of the Washington Times takes a look at today's Examiner editorial about the full cost of Nationals Park, which the Examiner says is now reaching $759 million but which may be reached thanks to, Tim says, "a few factual errors and a misleading statement."
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Feb 19, 2008 5:03 PM
Velocity Happy Hour on Thursday
From the Capitol Riverfront BID, word of a Happy Hour on Thursday (Feb. 21) being given by the Velocity Condos folks (so they just might possibly want to give you all the scoop about their offerings). It's at Sonoma (223 Pennsylvania Ave., SE) from 6 to 8 pm. There's also another one scheduled for March 13.
 

Feb 19, 2008 8:55 AM
Reminder: Second Nats Job Fair Thursday
A reminder that the second Nationals Job Fair for part-time and seasonal employement at the ballpark is scheduled for Thursday (Feb. 21) from 10 am to 2 pm at King Greenleaf Recreational Center at 201 N St., SW. Some highlights:
* The positions, most of which are part-time and seasonal, are open to persons ages 18 and older (including senior citizens).
* The Nationals are going to be looking with particular interest at residents of Ward 6 who will not need parking to get to jobs at the stadium.
* Residents who have little work experience but who are "reliable and willing workers" will be considered for positions that they have the skills for.
You can read the original announcement post at Tommy Wells's site for additional details.
More than 2,500 people showed up at the first fair on Feb. 9, according to the Post.
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Feb 18, 2008 7:53 PM
Breaking News: Stadium Parking Tight!
A shocking investigative report from NBC4, entitled "Parking May Be Tight At Nationals' New Stadium": "In just about 40 days, the Washington Nationals' new ballpark along the Anacostia River is set to open its gates for more than 40,000 fans. But while the stadium is expected to be ready, parking could still be a problem, News4's Tom Sherwood reported." Thank heavens that the lack of parking has finally been uncovered by the media, since it hasn't been talked about at all up to now. Coming soon, news organizations break the astonishing story that not all of Near Southeast will be built out and available for residents and visitors by Opening Day.
(Oh, come on, I get to be sarcastic once in a while!)
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Feb 18, 2008 9:36 AM
'Nationals Park' Added to Scoreboard
If you haven't checked the Stadium Web Cam in the past few days (or sneaked a peek through the gap on South Capitol Street), you haven't seen the fun "Nationals Park" lettering now added across the top of the scoreboard. There are also red seats now being installed below the outfield restaurant.
I'm also hearing that this is the week that the traffic and parking plans for Opening Day are going to be released, so watch this space for the latest on that.
UPDATE: Looks like one of Channel 9's staffers got a ballpark tour on Friday--he's posted a few pictures.
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More posts: parking, Nationals Park
 

Feb 16, 2008 11:56 PM
Bike Route to Ballpark Signs Seen on the Hill
Saw one of these signs pointing cyclists to the ballpark for the first time today--I think they've only gone up in the past week or so. (This was on Fourth St., SE, just north of Pennsylvania Ave.) Sorry for the lousy quality--it was dusk and my camera phone wasn't cooperating. But you get the idea. (UPDATED with a better photo, finally.)
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