HILL EAST. Poplar Point. The Anacostia Riverwalk. The replacements of the 11th Street and Frederick Douglass bridges. If you can't keep all of the various redevelopment projects for the greater Anacostia waterfront area straight, you might want to stop by the upcoming Anacostia Waterfront Community Fair, slated for this weekend.
The gathering, sponsored by the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the District Department of Transportation will allow city officials, developers and nonprofit organizations to interact with the public and discuss proposals for the Anacostia waterfront, a part of the city that was long neglected, but is seeing a surge in interest.
The fair will take place Saturday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Coletta of Greater Washington at 19th Street SE and Independence Avenue. It comes as the city is expected to officially pick a developer to transform Poplar Point into a mixed-used destination near the Anacostia neighborhood's historic core.
Continue Reading "Event to Discuss Plans for Anacostia Waterfront" »
AFTER THE GATES of the Stadium-Armory station's Independence Avenue entrance were locked behind us and we walked past the empty station manager's kiosk, the sights and sounds of Metrorail after hours slowly emerged. The rattle of machinery grew louder as we approached the escalators leading down to the platform.
Usually, when thousands of sports fans pour into the station after events at RFK Stadium, they're greeted by a platform crowded with fellow attendees heading home. But early Wednesday morning last week, well after the last passengers had left the station, Stadium-Armory was mostly empty, but far from silent. The din of activity came from about midway down the platform, where small hoses snaked toward opposite end of the station. The electronic passenger information sign was covered in plastic, as were telephones and a lighted Calvin Klein advertising display. Workers in two cherry pickers armed with high-pressure water hoses were spraying out the hardest-to-get to areas of the station: the waffle-shaped coffers high above the platform.
Dirty water cascaded from the ceiling to the platform and trackbed below, where other workers were busy spraying more accessible surfaces. In all, the group was about 10 workers strong, but since many of them were wearing special breathing masks, there was little casual conversation in the spray zone. The noise of the water and the motors driving the high-pressure machinery drowned out all but the occasional muffled yell.
"It's a whole different world at night," Thomas Morrison, Metro's superintendent of contract maintenance and station enhancement, said as we walked past a cherry picker surrounded with spray. "People don't realize the efforts that go on at night."
Continue Reading "As Riders Sleep, Special Metro Cleaners Get to Work" »
GREENBELT OR NEW CARROLLTON could be potential new homes for D.C. United, which is looking to build a new stadium. As discussions broke down this summer between D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty and the Major League Soccer franchise for a new stadium at Poplar Point in Anacostia, United officials began looking across the Maryland border for a potential new home.
As The Post's Rosalind S. Helderman reports preliminary discussions have started, and United owner Victor MacFarlane has expressed interest in New Carrollton and Greenbelt, sites the team had considered a few years ago.
Why those sites? They're both Metrorail accessible and have room for mixed-used development with a stadium as its anchor, which is what United was looking for with the Poplar Point site. Additionally, Prince George's County has a large Latino population, which forms a critical foundation for the team's fan base.
All this comes at a time when District officials are trying to figure out what to do with RFK Stadium — United's current home and until recently, home to the Nationals — which will move into a new stadium in Near Southeast in the spring. As The Post's David Nakamura reports, the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, which operates the facility, is looking for $2.5 million in public money, to cover a budget shortfall, "largely the result of the Nationals' ending their annual $2 million rent payment at RFK ...."
» "Would They Call It P.G. United?" [WaPo]
» "Drain Feared As Nationals Leave RFK" [WaPo]
Photo by Toni L. Sandys/The Washington Post
Photo of construction work at the new Nationals stadium last month by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post
THE EFFORT TO BUILD a new stadium for the Washington Nationals has been a lot of things — fractious, confusing, convoluted — but it certainly hasn't been boring. The latest battle: Where fans will park. And communication between the team and the city government doesn't appear to be in the best of shape.
» SHOT: The Nats announce Tuesday that stadium-goers will be able to park for free at RFK Stadium, the Nats' old home, once the new ballpark opens in April. They'll hop a shuttle bus from there to the new facility, which sits near the Navy Yard Metro station and South Capitol Street.
» CHASER: D.C. officials, who control RFK, say they haven't signed off on the plan, The Post's David Nakamura reports:
"Right now, we haven't finalized any arrangement for satellite parking," said Greg O'Dell, chief executive of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, which operates RFK and is overseeing construction of the new ballpark. "We're certainly in discussions and want to come to an arrangement that makes sense to both parties."Both the Nats owners and the city have a hefty stake in making sure fans can get to the ballpark, Nakamura reports: The family of Bethesda developer Theodore Lerner paid $450 million for the team and the city is spending $611 million to build the stadium.
Continue Reading "Nationals, D.C. At Odds Over Parking Plan" »
SO METRORAIL'S NAVY YARD station is probably going to see some sort of name change to better brand the Green Line stop as the home of the Washington Nationals, as WTOP has reported. 
Otherwise, those unfamiliar with the transit system might end up at the Stadium-Armory station, where RFK Stadium is located. DCist on Tuesday polled its readers in a post titled "Should We Rename the Navy Yard Metro Stop?" Well, DCist should know it doesn't have the authority to rename Metrorail stations, but beyond that jurisdictional matter, the blog's commenters have offered up some worthy suggestions. Our favorite is a reference to Near Southeast's ousted adult entertainment venues: "Something like Navy Yard/Nationals Stadium/Historic Gay Bathhouse District," commenter Monkeyrotica suggests.
Another commenter notes something important: "On that note, we must change Stadium-Armory to RFK Stadium-Armory. We must prevent clueless tourists from their own incompetence."
Good point. First things first. Shouldn't there first be a name for the new stadium before the Navy Yard station is renamed? Oh, details. [WTOP; DCist]
» HERE WE GO AGAIN: There's another petition to get a high-end grocery store in the Gallery Place-Chinatown-Verizonville-Penn Quarter neighborhood. 
This time, the people — and Douglas Development — want a Whole Foods. Good luck with that. [PQ Living]
» OVERPLAYED: The good folks over at law firm Sullivan & Cromwell are trying to lure new young lawyers not only with big fat bonuses, but also, oddly, with bonsai trees. The evidence is here. Why not a big credenza to stash loot in? [Above the Law; Law Blog/WSJ]
» QUICKLY QUOTED: Ahhh, this situation must have been awkward: "In that brief moment of eye contact I tried to say 'I am a student of history, not a pseudo-scientific Victorian eugenicist! Horrible misunderstanding!'" [EJ Takes Life]
Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
THE DAY HAS nearly arrived. Don't pretend you don't know:
Britain's sarong-wearing god himself, David Beckham, will wow thousands at RFK with his presence on Thursday.
Granted, that presence may be on the sidelines. The body-hair-devoid sometimes-bleached-blond has been fighting a balky ankle this summer, and he's played token minutes since joining the Los Angeles Galaxy. It doesn't look good for him to hit the pitch against D.C. United, either, but that doesn't matter for the box office: individual tickets for the match are sold out.
Of course there will be two decidedly different camps of fans who attend the game: the regulars who always hoot and holler for the United and those who want to fawn and drool over the Galaxy's latest addition.
Prescribe to the latter version of soccer "fan"? Well then, keep these Beckhamisms in mind to prepare you for the game. And remember: Whether he plays of not, it's always about the Beckham.
EVERYONE KNOWS that heading to the National Mall for the annual Fourth of July concert and fireworks is a hassle. But hundreds of thousands of people will crowd Metrorail and work their way through security checkpoints nonetheless so they can hear the "1812 Overture" — complete with real cannon fire! There's something irresistible about the concert and fireworks that keeps people coming back year after year. Must be all the explosions. 
Oh yeah, and this year's host for "A Capitol Fourth" is Tony Danza, at right.
» A Capitol Fourth, U.S. Capitol, Wed., concert 8 p.m., fireworks 9:10 p.m.; 202-619-7222. (Union Station/Capitol South)
Need something to do with your day off work? Want to ignore the fireworks? Here's our list of events you can attend on Wednesday.
» NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE DAY PARADE: The parade's Web site describes it as "a patriotic, flag waving, red, white and blue celebration of America's birthday." What else can we say?
National Independence Day Parade, Constitution Avenue from 7th Street NW to 17th Street NW, 11:45 a.m.; 800-215-6405. (Archives/Federal Triangle)
» SMITHSONIAN FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL: Amid the all-American hoopla of July 4, it's easy to forget that there are other cultures in the world. If you want to get to the Mall early on Wednesday and secure a prime space for the evening's concert and fireworks, you can attend the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which features arts and food from the Mekong River in Southeast Asia, Northern Ireland and colonial Virginia. Just remember that the Smithsonian Metro station is closed Wednesday for security purposes.
Smithsonian Folklife Festival, National Mall between 7th and 14th streets, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 800-215-6405. (Federal Triangle/L'Enfant Plaza)
Continue Reading "Beyond the Mall: On July 4, There's Plenty to Do" »
THE WORLD CUP CAME to D.C. in 1994. More recently, Chelsea played D.C. United at FedEx Field two summers ago. And now, David Beckham is coming to the area. No one is going to confuse the L.A. Galaxy with Chelsea or Brazil.
But with 30,000 tickets already sold, Beckham's arrival in D.C. is sure to make RFK shake.
"With an exciting season already well underway, the Los Angeles game is selling at an unprecedented rate," United executive vice president Stephen Zack said in a statement last week. "We're expecting to fill every seat at RFK Stadium on August 9."
Individual game tickets for the Beckham game go on sale on Monday at 10 a.m., and fans can purchase the $35 seats by visiting D.C. United's Web site.
Photo by Pierre-Philippe Marcou/AFP/Getty Images
HOUSE SPEAKER NANCY PELOSI strolled into RFK Stadium on Monday at 8:45 p.m., dressed in white and surrounded by well-wishers as her entourage headed for the majority party's seating area for the 46th annual Roll Call Congressional Baseball Game. The San Francisco Democrat was greeted by applause from her party faithful and boos from the Republican seating area. It's been a long time since a congressional Democrat was the top political celebrity at the annual baseball game. But last year's elections changed that.
What Pelosi didn't know at the time was that by the end of the third inning, a member of her caucus, Washington Rep. Adam Smith, at right, would blow the Democrats' chances to clinch a key win after years of losses to the Republicans.
Smith, who has represented the Tacoma, Wash., area since 1996, led the Democrats in errors and drew derision in the stands, especially when he slid into third base when walking there briskly would have sufficed. One can only wonder if Pelosi will penalize Smith for his poor athletic performance, maybe cutting him from his coveted Armed Services Committee slot or forcing him to resign from one of the nearly 30 Congressional interest caucuses and working groups he is a member of so he can use the time to practice for next year's game.
Despite the Democrats' strong showing at the polls in November, the brute force of the freshmen class — including former Washington Redskin and North Carolina Rep. Heath Shuler — did not translate into a much-needed baseball win. The Republicans triumphed, 5-2. But the atmosphere was much different than in recent years, with Republican fans putting forward a less rambunctious face.
Continue Reading "Dems Lose Congressional Baseball Game, Again" »
ON FRIDAY, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty paid a visit to the Washington Nationals' new ballpark, currently under construction off of South Capitol Street in Near Southeast. Click here for a full photo slideshow of the new stadium from washingtonpost.com or click here for a live stadium construction cam from Clark Construction.
On Saturday, this writer paid a visit to the Nats' current home at RFK Stadium, photos below, where the team played game two of a three-game series against the Cleveland Indians. (The Nats lost on Saturday, but on Sunday, they beat the Indians, 3-1.)
And tonight at RFK, Democratic and Republican members of Congress will be playing in the 46th annual Roll Call Congressional Baseball Game. Democrats may control Congress, but if current baseball tradition prevails tonight, the Republicans will win.
Photos above, from left, by Ricky Carioti/The Washington Post and Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post; photos below by Kyle Gustafson for Express
Continue Reading "As New Ballpark Rises, Game Goes On at RFK" »
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