Nationals Park

From SoSH

Nationals Park

Location:	Washington, D.C.
Opened:	March 30, 2008
Owner:	Government of the District of Columbia
Surface:	Grass (Kentucky sod)
Architect:	HOK Sport Devrouax & Purnell
Current Capacity:	41,222
Build Cost:	$611 Million
Tenants:	Washington Nationals (2008-)

Nationals Park is currently under construction and is scheduled to open in time for Opening Day, 2008.

1 Stadium History
2 Stadium Location
- 2.1 Transportation
3 Field Dimensions
4 Wall Height
5 External Links

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Stadium History

The Expos relocating to Washington was contingent on the development of a new ballpark. Consequently, RFK Stadium was never intended to be the permanent home of the Nationals, but rather, hold the team over until construction on a new facility was complete.

The District of Columbia government agreed to pay for the development of the park, but placed a cap of $611 million on its costs. Any cost overruns are to be paid for by the new owners.

The team ownership has stated that naming rights negotiations are continuing, and that a naming deal may be signed in time for 2009. At the time of opening, the stadium will be known as Nationals Park.

Groundbreaking of Nationals Park was on May 4, 2006. The stadium is scheduled to open in time for the Nationals' first home game of 2008; whether their first game of the season will be at home or on the road is under negotiation.

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Stadium Location

The stadium is located in the Southeast quadrant of Washington near the bank of the Anacostia River, in an urban district of DC currently occupied by warehouses. Some seats are oriented to provide a view of the US Capitol dome and , but development including parking garages will block that view from the majority of seats.

The city's intent is to create a Ballpark District surrounding the stadium and to encourage restaurant and entertainment development. The Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District was formed in 2007 to assess fees on property owners in a 100-block area including the stadium. It is expected that in the next 15 years the Business Improvement District area will include approximately 12 million square feet of office space, 9,000 new housing units, and 600,000 square feet of retail; of this, 3 million square feet of office space, and 2500 housing units are under construction currently or have been completed.

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Transportation

The stadium stands one block from the west entrance of the Navy Yard Metro Green Line station. That entrance is currently closed while it is expanded to increase its capacity to 15,000 passengers per hour to accommodate gameday crowds. Construction was planned to be complete by April 1, 2008, but may be delayed by 7 weeks.

Parking structures are planned for adjacent sites, but will not be completed in time for Opening Day. The Department of Transportation has declined to allow stadium patrons to park in its parking garages nearby. The city and the team are negotiating on costs to allow fans to park at RFK Stadium and take shuttle buses to Nationals Park.

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