Nationals unveil renderings for proposed ballpark and area renovations
With Capital One Arena about to undergo a three-year, half-billion dollar refurbishment, and RFK Stadium’s land back under DC control, the Nationals apparently don’t want the city to forget about them.
Over the weekend, it was learned that the Nationals presented a handful of renderings last week to a group that included Mayor Muriel Bowser and DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson, those being proposed upgrades and improvements to both Nationals Park itself and the surrounding area.
"These are just ideas to be evocative, but it makes a lot of sense to modernize the ballpark as early as possible so the neighborhood, and the city and the team can benefit from the improvements as much as possible," Nats executive Gregory McCarthy told Axios, who had some of the renderings.
The leaked plans include turning the center-field entrance into a plaza that can house restaurants, retail, and a concert stage, and adding street-level restaurants and/or retail around parking garages on N St, Capitol St SW, and First St SE – and also adding more down First St SE towards the Anacostia River to make that thoroughfare more appealing.
Last year, the City Council approved a Ballpark Preservation and Improvement Fund, which would be funded by tax dollars from in-park purchases ad well as the team’s lease payment – a way to help what was said at the time to be an estimated $350 million in upgrades that will be needed at Nats Park between now and the team’s lease with the city expiring in 2038.
