Announced paid attendance was 29,551, which pushed the mark for the 2012 season just above 1 million (1,002,396 for you sticklers). This is an average of 29,482 tickets sold per game through the first 34 of the season, compared to 22,948 at the same point last year. (The team didn't reach the 1 million mark in 2011's home attendance until July 9.)

According to Dan Steinberg, seven of the 13 biggest crowds in Nats Park history have come this season, three of them just last weekend for the Yankees series. The average through these first 34 games is a smidge higher than for the same span in the ballpark's inaugural 2008 season, and is no doubt well outpacing the 2009-2011 doldrums.

So, there's an average of 6,500-plus more bodies traipsing through the streets around the ballpark for every game this year than last year, along with far more sellouts and near sellouts than the ballpark has seen in its previous four seasons--how is this working out for the neighborhood? I haven't heard much carping--is this because traffic and humanity are generally moving well (albeit with a bit more patience required during the big games), or is it more because most Near Southeast residents moved to the neighborhood after the stadium opened, and so have no "before" frame of reference and are also more accepting of the crowds since they knew what they were getting into? (The point of view might be a bit different across the way in the established residential areas of Southwest.) Or does a winning record and a first-place team magically lessen the pain and grumbling?

A reader reports that a sign has been posted on the ATM at the Bank of America branch/trailer at 4th and M, SW, alerting users that the location will be closing on July 20, reopening in Southeast on July 23.

I figure that most parents of small children in the Near Southeast/Capitol Hill/Southwest metroplex are already aware of this, but it's still worth mentioning that DC Parks and Rec's Lincoln Capper Children's Pool at 555 L St., SE, is open again this summer, offering splashing opportunities from 10 am to 6 pm Wednesday through Friday (with a half-hour break from 2:30-3 pm), and on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 6 pm.

The fountains and wading pool at the Yards Park are now probably a bigger draw, but this additional offering brought to you by your tax dollars shouldn't be neglected, especially if it's too hot to walk down to 3rd and Water or if it's during the times each week when the fountains are off.

(There's also the pool scene at the Capitol Skyline Hotel, but that's slightly less kid-friendly than when I was a kid.)

Has anyone been to Lincoln this season?

It's no secret that most everyone is itching to see the entire building get demolished--and that's not just residents, but also developer William C. Smith, which can't truly begin construction on its 433-unit Park Chelsea apartment building just to the north until the trash transfer building is gone.

The demolition of the ramp is a piece of the puzzle, though. The digging currently happening north of the trash building is WCS relocating some deep (deep!) utilities along New Jersey Avenue and in the footprint of what will eventually be the new I Street, and demolishing the ramp will allow that work to continue. Once the utilities are relocated, and the clearing of the area along the new I Street is completed, WCS can start the full excavation for the apartment building and the construction of I Street.

The DC Housing Authority is handling the razing of the building itself, since it is on the footprint of the Capper/Carrollsburg redevelopment. (Plans call for a 300ish-unit mixed-income apartment building to eventually be built there.) Demolition isn't too far off. Really. Truly. But best to not attach any time frame beyond "near term" to it.

According to an e-mail forwarded around by ANC commissioner David Garber (I haven't seen mention of the event anywhere else), the meeting's primary purpose is to get ideas about the kinds of attractions and features that OP would then want to put into the design competition they plan to hold for the bridge. There's no funding for any actual construction at this point, and a private partner would probably have to be found to foot the not-miniscule tab to build a new decking across the river on the footings that will remain now that the current deck is being demolished.

Green Line service will continue to operate normally through the station during these times--passengers just won't be able to get on the Green Line at Navy Yard between 10 pm Saturday and 7 am Sunday.

However, the Half Street entrance to the station will close at 7 pm Saturday and won't reopen until 12:30 pm Sunday.

Even if you're not planning to be on the subway during those times, note that there may be street closures as well as a "large presence" of emergency vehicles and law enforcement personnel. But Metro emphasizes "this is only a drill."

In the meantime, while we're on the subject, I wonder when the station's official name is going to change? The new maps on trains and in stations have the updated Navy Yard-Ballpark moniker, but the street-level signs remain unchanged, and Metro is still referring to the station as Navy Yard in the above press release and on the web site.

The NoMa station got a festive renaming event last week, but that was for a complete name change, not just an addendum.

The station celebrated its 20th birthday back in December.

This might also be a good time to mention some Metrobus changes, too. The P1 and P2 lines that used to run along M Street from Archives during rush hour have been discontinued, and the P6 line, which used to run along Virginia Avenue and then up into Capitol Hill on its route between Anacostia and the Rhode Island Avenue station, now runs along M Street from the 11th Street Bridge to 3rd Street SW, then shifts to 4th Street all the way north to Pennsylvania Avenue. (A nice change for Near Southeast folks, but a sad one for me, since this bus ran right past my corner and was our chariot to the E Street Cinemas and other destinations along its route.)

* Damn Yankees vs. Nats: This three-day series would be drawing big crowds even if both teams weren't on hot streaks, but now it's a marquee matchup of the first-place teams in the two best divisions in baseball, both on six-game winning streaks. The Nationals are already encouraging fans to allow plenty of extra time to get to their seats, and Near Southeast residents should be prepared for a tidal wave of ballpark-goers. Friday's game starts at 7:05 pm, Saturday's at 1:05 pm, and Sunday's at 1:35 pm.

If you're venturing to the stadium for the first time this season, my Visiting Nats Park page has links for you, like all the parking lots, transit options, food choices, and more.

* Zimmerman's Night at the Park: After their undefeated road trip to Boston and Toronto, the Nats get a day off from baseball tonight, but they'll still be heading to the stadium for Ryan Zimmerman's third annual "Night at the Park" to benefit his ZIMs Foundation, dedicated to the treatment and cure of Multiple Sclerosis. The band Guster will be performing, plus there will be silent and live auctions and most likely the chance to meet a player or two. (I wonder if Gio has gotten a date yet?)

* Tour de Fat: The Yards Park is the launching point on Saturday morning for the Tour de Fat bike event. I think the best way to describe this is to let New Belgium Beer do it: "[I]t is a thrilling rite of passage that includes an unparalleled costumed bicycle parade, New Belgium beer, eccentric entertainment, local food, unusual bike contests and much more." Registration for the free event begins at 9 am, with the parade going off at 10, then multiple other events (like the "Slow Ride") through 3 pm. Wonder what the pinstripe-bedecked visitors heading to the ballpark from Nats Lot W will think of the {other} costumed hordes riding by?

* Movies and Music: And of course there's the BID's weekly events, with "National Treasure" being tonight's Front Flicks Outdoor Movies offering, and the band Shag offering British Rock and covers at Friday's Evening Concert at Yards Park.

(Plus, don't forget that Sunday is Father's Day!)

With the arrival of the trees and some initial streetscaping now in place on the portion of L Street that runs through the park, you can now see how narrow the street is going to be in order to work to slow vehicular traffic as it crosses the park. (The completed streetscape will also give a visual cue to Slow The Hell Down.) K Street will get a similar treatment.

So check out the slew of progress shots on my Canal Park project page. And I do also recommend a run through my Expanded Canal Park photo archive, to make a time-traveling virtual visit to the park's three blocks, which will get you comparison shots like these:

(Southeast corner of 2nd and K. I love the first shot, from nearly nine years ago, with lots of school buses and without USDOT.)

The official Canal Park web site can also give you more information, along with these slides from a presentation at last month's ANC 6D meeting. Though, judging from the people who chatted me up while I was poking my camera through the fences, we're long past the "what" stage and deep into the "when" ("WHEN!?!") stage. An opening in November is still the target.

Meanwhile, on Capitol Quarter's last block, framing has now gotten underway on 4th Street, with bricking and painting finished on the houses on the 3rd Street side. My suggestion is to scroll through the Capitol Quarter Phase 2 Expanded Photo Archive, because I can't imagine at this point the before-and-afters need much narration.

(Southeast corner of Third and L, in December 2004 [through the windshield!] and today.)

But there are also two Near Southeast items of interest listed: an update on baseball game-day parking from DDOT (first discussed at the May meeting) and the Capper Community Center PUD extension request (also discussed in May).

I'm not yet up to sitting through a meeting of that length (though I'm coming along), so if these items are of interest, get thee to 1100 4th St. SW at 7 pm on Monday.

* The Navy Yard alerts folks that the 11th & O gate to their part of the Riverwalk will be closed for approximately three weeks because of demolition work on the old outbound 11th Street Bridge. (This means that the Navy Yard Riverwalk itself isn't closed, it just means you can only access it west of 11th Street.)

* Speaking of the old bridge, City Paper writes that this demolition doesn't mean the end of the "recreation bridge across the Anacostia" idea, just that it was determined that it would be better to take off the old bridge deck than to try to maintain it while working on the recreation bridge idea, which will still need financial backing even after the design competition is held this fall.

* Speaking of the river, DDOT has launched AnacostiaWaterfront.org as a new online home for information on projects along the river, such as the 11th Street Bridges, the planned new South Capitol Street Bridge and associated corridor upgrades, the Riverwalk, and other projects.

* One tidbit unearthed in the new web site: An environmental assessment is expected to start this fall on reconstructing Barney Circle and transforming the "easternmost dead-end section of the Southeast/Southwest Freeway into a boulevard between the circle and 11th Street, SE."

(As always, follow JDLand on Twitter or Facebook if you want quicker access to these types of tidbits, most of which I sent out over the past week or so.)

Quoting myself, the lineup from right (M Street) to left (N Street) is:

* a 224,500-square-foot office building at the corner of 1st and M;

* a 180-unit hotel just to the south of the office building, separated by a 30-foot-courtyard;

* a 292-unit residential project south of the hotel in two buildings, both parallel to 1st Street, with a courtyard between them and a glass bridge connecting them; and

* 43,000 square feet of retail, 36,000 sf of which will be in the office/hotel/residential buildings (called the "Main Parcel"), while the remaining 7,000 sf will be in a separate two-story retail-only building at the corner of 1st and N (on the "South Parcel"), with a design "inspired by the industrial character of the existing neighborhood."

Here's the view from the other direction, at 1st and N, with the two-story retail building that would be just across from the Nats' parking garage at left, with the two parallel residential buildings to its right, then the hotel, then the office building:

Having now seen more of the zoning filing, I can pass along that the "Owner/Developer" is listed as Grosvenor, with Chicago-based McCaffery Interests listed as "Development/Construction Management Services Consultants." I'm sure there will be some sussing out of the land deal before long. (Note: I had the wrong Grosvenor link for the first few minutes this post was up. I'm blaming it on being medicated.)

Read my previous post for more details....

* Nationals: The Nats arrive home tomorrow to a series with the Braves. On Friday, there will be an attempt to set the world record for the largest all-trombone ensemble (no, really). Saturday brings Pups in the Park #2 along with the first NatsLive post-game concert, featuring Dierks Bentley. More info on the weekend's promotions and specials here.

* Thursday Movie, Friday Concert: Tonight's Outdoor Flick is Sahara, and the Friday Evening Concert at the Yards Park is Carribean Night with Sam'O and JFC.

* Yard Sale: Some Capitol Quarter neighbors are having a community yard sale on Saturday, June 2, on I Street between 4th and 5th, from 8 am to noon.

* Family Day: Another Family Day at the Fairgrounds on Sunday, June 3, from 11 am to 4 pm.

* Wednesday Music: I never received any official announcements on this, but apparently the Wednesday Lunchtime Concert Series started at the Fairgrounds on May 23, each week from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm through Sept. 5.

* Who Was This "Tingey"?: Find out Wednesday June 6 in a lecture at the National Archives.

* Walking Good, Biking Bad: The Navy Yard reminds people that biking is prohibited on the Navy Yard portion of the Anacostia Riverwalk. And the Tales from the Sharrows blog rebuts.

* "Our Parking": Curbside advocacy in action on K Street.

* Armed Robbery Attempt: From MPD: On Saturday, May 26, at approximately 4:10 am, "while in the 300 Block of K Street, SE, a complainant was approached by a suspect. The suspect brandished a handgun and demanded the complainant’s property. No property was obtained. The suspect is described as a black male, 20-25 years of age, wearing a light blue shirt and blue jeans. The suspect was last seen on fleeing on 3rd Place SE." If you have information, call 202-727-9099, or you can text 50411.

The applicant is listed only as "Ballpark Square LLC and SCD Acquisitions LLC," with a footnote mentioning that they are the "contract purchaser" of the 81,000-square-foot property, currently owned by a number of LLCs but generally described as controlled by Willco Companies. My sources continue to tell me that the purchaser is McCaffery Interests, the developer behind the Market Common residential/retail project in Clarendon, Georgetown Centre, the renovation of Mazza Gallerie, the big Potomac Yard redevelopment across the river, and other local developments, along with a number of big projects in Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburgh, and elsewhere.

The zoning filing lays out the design of the 1st Street project ("Ballpark Square", mayhaps?) as:

* a 224,500-square-foot office building at the corner of 1st and M;

* a 180-unit hotel just to the south of the office building, separated by a 30-foot-courtyard;

* a 292-unit residential project south of the hotel in two buildings, both parallel to 1st Street, with a courtyard between them and a glass bridge connecting them; and

* 43,000 square feet of retail, 36,000 sf of which will be in the office/hotel/residential buildings (called the "Main Parcel"), while the remaining 7,000 sf will be in a separate two-story retail-only building at the corner of 1st and N (on the "South Parcel"), with a design "inspired by the industrial character of the existing neighborhood."

(And there might be a juicy story behind the retail-only building, because apparently the Ballpark Square folks couldn't successfully acquire the 9,000 sq ft of lots owned by the Welch family in an L shape around the corner lots at 1st and N, necessitating the two separate parcels.)

The buildings will be 130 feet high, and there will be approximately 366 parking spaces, all beneath the main parcel (and there will be bike parking, too). The residential and hotel buildings are being designed by Hickok Cole, and Gensler is the architect for the office building.

The zoning filing describes the site as having "the opportunity to become a linchpin for the entertainment district that the Distrct has long envisioned in the Ballpark area," and that it will "attract people who attend baseball games, but also provide the everyday amenities essential to the residents living in the project and nearby." And, "[p]erhaps most importantly, this project will convert a vacant site to vibrant and active uses that contribute to the rejuvenation of the Capitol Riverfront by complementing the epicenter of this community, the Ballpark."

In addition to needing a Capitol Gateway Overlay Review for the plans, the developers are also needing some zoning relief, to be allowed to scrap four required parking spaces for the separate retail building on the south parcel along with variances for loading, rear yard, and open court requirements that I'm just not up to writing much about right now.

Goodies like renderings, elevations, and additional details (like a timeline!) will be coming (though the ANC commish tweeted a sneak peek a few days ago), and this would be brought up before ANC 6D for its support before the Zoning Commission would vote on the review and variances.

This site is just to the east of Monument Realty's stalled Half Street project, which has similar plans for hotel, residential, and retail to the south of its 55 M Street office building. And across from that is Akridge's Half Street project, looking to bring office, residential, and retail to the west side of the street. In other words, there's a whole lot of mixed use on the boards just north of Nats Park. Who will get out of the blocks first?

UPDATE, 6/4: Renderings!

This is the stage of the Environmental Impact study where the initial lineup of possible concepts have been winnowed down to the four that will be evaluated for the final EIS:

* Concept 1 - "No Build" (i.e., leave as is);

* Concept 2 - Rebuild tunnel with a temporary track running in an open trench to the south of the existing tunnel;

* Concept 5 - "Permanent Twin Tunnels," with a new tunnel built via open trench to the south of the existing tunnel, which would be rebuilt as well;

* Concept 6 - "Rebuild Online," where the current tunnel would be rebuilt via open trench along the existing alignment, and trains would run in that same trench during construction.

Also contained in the slides is information about how traffic would be routed with the closure of Virginia Avenue on the south side of the freeway between 2nd and 11th. As has always been stated, north/south traffic on the numbered streets would be maintained across Virginia, and temporary driveways/access are shown on 3rd and 4th Street for Capitol Quarter and the 200 I/225 Virginia loading dock. It's also shown that Virginia Avenue north of the freeway would become two-way between 6th and 8th streets, so that traffic exiting the Southeast Freeway at 6th would all be directed left under the freeway and then would be able to continue to 8th Street on Virginia.

There's also some slides on the vibration and noise analyses being done, and how Virginia Avenue might be improved after construction is completed (with bike lanes being a possibility, which immediately warmed David Garber's heart).

The draft Environmental Impact Statement is expected to be released this fall, in which the design for construction will be identified; the entire process would be completed in spring, 2013. Comments can be submitted to contact@virginiaavenuetunnel.com or via the web site.

On May 29, 30, and 31, DDOT will close 11th Street SE from M to O starting at 7 pm through 5 am the following morning. Traffic heading for Anacostia from 11th Street will be detoured onto the new I-695 East ramp at 11th and M, then to Howard Road SE to access Martin Luther King Jr. Ave. (It's left unsaid in the advisory, but it sounds like traffic inbound from Anacostia on the local bridge will still be allowed, since it uses 12th Street to get to M.)

I haven't made it across the new bridge yet, but WashCycle investigated the temporary pedestrian/bicycle lane, and took some photos. There's also my week-old photos of all of the doings along 11th Street, that included a few peeks at the not-yet-opened-at-that-time bridge.

Here's a gallery of 11th Street photos, including explanations of what's going on. The pictures also show the work underway to get the final demolition and clearing done so that 11th Street can become two-way all the way down to the new local bridge. (Though this can't happen completely until the ramp at N Street to the old outbound bridge is demolished, which is why I imagine the new bridge is only "partially" opening, enough to route outbound traffic onto it so that the final demolition can be completed.)

I also added images to my main 11th Street Bridges photo page, but you may also be interested in the more complete before-and-after sets of 11th and M, 11th and N, and 11th and O.

But there's also this view from O Street east of 11th, looking southward, which, in comparing November 2005 to now, shows one heck of a change:

Once the local bridge is open, the next big milestone will be the completion of the ramps from I-695 eastbound to DC-295 northbound, and from DC-295 southbound inbound across the freeway bridge, both of which are traffic movements that did not exist before this project. (No more dealing with the left turn on Pennsylvania Avenue, or taking New York Avenue outbound, to get to DC-295 from Near Southeast, Capitol Hill, and the Southeast Freeway.)

UPDATE, 5/21: DDOT has just sent out a release saying that the 11th Street Local Bridge will open "on or about Thursday, May 24." It is indeed a partial opening: "There will be 2 lanes for inbound traffic and 1 lane for outbound traffic towards Anacostia. There will also be a temporary 6-foot separated walkway for pedestrians and cyclists. (The local bridge is scheduled to be completed this fall with 4 travel lanes and a permanent shared pedestrian/bicycle path)." The release also says that the new ramp from southbound DC-295 to the inbound freeway bridge will open in about six weeks, and that the new ramp from 11th Street to the westbound SE Freeway will open by July 4. Click the two images for maps of the temporary routes and patterns.

Note that inbound traffic from the new bridge will be routed up 12th Street SE and then through the 11th and M intersection. The designs for the new bridge have always shown 11th Street becoming two-way, and the work up to M Street would seem to indicate that's still the plan, but the release doesn't say anything about the 12th Street routing being "temporary." Guess we'll have to see.

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: Nah, as I've been saying all along (such as in Saturday's photo gallery), the 12th Street routing for inbound local bridge traffic is just temporary.

To allow you to properly plan your calendar for the week, I'm posting this nice and early:

"The District Department of Transportation (DDOT) will open the newly constructed ramp at the intersection of 11th Street and M Street, SE to traffic on or about Friday, May 18. The new ramp will provide access from the M Street/Navy Yard area to the new outbound 11th Street Freeway Bridge and southbound I-295.

"Access to Historic Anacostia will remain on the old outbound 11th Street Bridge, until the new local bridge opens in the coming days. Existing inbound traffic movements from northbound I-295 to the M Street/ Navy Yard area will also remain the same."

So, don't drive down 11th Street south of M anymore if you're wanting to get to I-295 southbound, because that old ramp at N Street will now only take you via the old bridge directly into Anacostia on Martin Luther King Jr. Ave.

Will be interesting to see how this works, and of course it will be equally interesting to see the new 11th Street Local bridge in action, "in the coming days." UPDATE, 5/18: Dr. Gridlock says today on his blog that the 11th Street Local bridge will be opening on Wednesday (May 23).

* South on South Capitol: The Fairgrounds folks are launching a "South on South Capitol" southern rock concert series, featuring local and regional country and southern rock bands, along with mechanical bull rides (!), food trucks, and the Bullpen bar. The first one is scheduled for May 25, then June 22, July 27, and Aug. 24. (They're all Fridays.) Admission is free.

And, speaking of Fairgrounds, there's a corrected list of dates for their Sunday Family Days, which are just once a month (next one on June 3).

* Science + You: If you've wandered by the southeast corner of the Foundry Lofts building just north of the Yards Park, you may have already seen the Science + You exhibit. It's geared toward kids ages 3-8, giving them the hands-on chance to "become scientists for a day." It's being managed by Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region, and was developed by Kohl Children's Museum in Chicago in cooperation with scientists from Abbott. The web site has lots of photos of the various interactive stations within the exhibit. It runs until Aug. 5, and is open from 12:30-4 pm Tuesday-Friday and 10 am-4 pm Saturday and Sunday. Admission is free.

* Ladies Night: The Nats' first Ladies Night of the 2012 season is Thursday (May 17), and they're going with a "Pretty in Pink" theme along with a Majestic women's apparel fashion show, drink specials, games, prizes, music, and whatnot. VIP tickets are $40 and include access to the party tent at 1st and Potomac from 5 to 7 pm along with special group seating. If you can't make the tent happy hour, you can buy a $25 ticket and enjoy the Scoreboard Pavilion festivities. (The tickets include a $10 concession credit.)

* Bike to Work: Friday, May 18 is Bike to Work Day, and the Yards Park is one of the pit stops, from 7 to 9 am. Alas, the free t-shirts for the first 11,000 registrants have already been snapped up, but you probably already own a t-shirt or two anyway.

* Battle of the Beltways: Be forewarned that the right-near-first-place (!) Orioles are coming to Nats Park for a Friday-Sunday interleague series, and so all three games will probably bring a lot of fans and traffic.

* Third Eye Blind: I mentioned last week about the Wallflowers being lined up for the 2nd of the NatsLive free post-game concerts, and soon after the word went out that Third Eye Blind would be playing the third concert, on Aug. 18 after the Nats play the New York Mets. Dierks Bentley kicks off the series on June 2, and tickets for all three games are on sale. (The concerts are free for game-ticket holders.)

And of course Friday also brings the Yards Park Friday Concert Series, with Justin Trawick performing this week. And, as a heads up, next Thursday (May 24), the Front Flicks Outdoor Movie Series gets underway, with Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.