Nationals unveil ballpark design

[marlinfan]

Certainly breaks the retro look. But it looks too much like an office building.

[CC97]

The outside looks like the MCI Center

[NJTank]

Not too bad fits well into the DC building style

[amare32]

I was hoping the orientation of the ballpark would allow for views of the Capitol or Washington Monument in the outfield. It looks like the parking garage would block that view. I hope I'm wrong about that.

In any event, it's good to see the Nats future home. Hooray for baseball in DC!

[lilgump]

I was hoping the orientation of the ballpark would allow for views of the Capitol or Washington Monument in the outfield. It looks like the parking garage would block that view. I hope I'm wrong about that.

In any event, it's good to see the Nats future home. Hooray for baseball in DC!

agreed.. with so many icons it would be cool if some of them were inview in the background.

[BigMac12]

Here's something that I don't get.

There will be approximately 22,000 seats in the lower bowl, 12,100 in the upper seating area (which will feature views of the U.S. Capitol dome, located just 15 blocks away), 2,500 club seats and 1,112 suite seats for a total of 41,000 seats.

I did the calculations. I find that 22,000+12,100+2,500+1,112=37,712. That's 3,288 seats too short. I'll look it over again. I may be missing some seats.

[WSU151]

Here's something that I don't get.

There will be approximately 22,000 seats in the lower bowl, 12,100 in the upper seating area (which will feature views of the U.S. Capitol dome, located just 15 blocks away), 2,500 club seats and 1,112 suite seats for a total of 41,000 seats.

I did the calculations. I find that 22,000+12,100+2,500+1,112=37,712. That's 3,288 seats too short. I'll look it over again. I may be missing some seats.

Perhaps the outfield is different than "lower bowl".

[BigMac12]

My bad. Here's more:

Two club lounges with seating for 1,800 will features indoor dining: the 500-seat Founders Club and the 1300-seat Diamond Club will provide bar and dining services.

Those now increases the capacity to 41,312. That's more like it.

I'm dissapointed. With the famous buildings like the Capitol and the White House, it looks bland.

[WSU151]

My bad.  Here's more:

Two club lounges with seating for 1,800 will features indoor dining: the 500-seat Founders Club and the 1300-seat Diamond Club will provide bar and dining services.

Those now increases the capacity to 41,312. That's more like it.

I'm dissapointed. With the famous buildings like the Capitol and the White House, it looks bland.

The two lounges combined will seat 1800 (500+1300). It's not two lounges of 1800 each.

[BigMac12]

My bad.  Here's more:

Two club lounges with seating for 1,800 will features indoor dining: the 500-seat Founders Club and the 1300-seat Diamond Club will provide bar and dining services.

Those now increases the capacity to 41,312. That's more like it.

I'm dissapointed. With the famous buildings like the Capitol and the White House, it looks bland.

The two lounges combined will seat 1800 (500+1300). It's not two lounges of 1800 each.

Okay, the new total is 39,512. It's 1,488 short.

[winters in buffalo]

Eh, not a bad-looking park.

A bit more modern than I'd hope for though.

[VitaminD]

Best feature may be the parking garage beyond the left field area. That's sorely lacking from a lot of big-league parks (*cough*CitizensBankPark*cough*).

As for seeing landmarks, that's asking a lot. Judging by the way the stadium is oriented, it looks like home plate faces out to the northeast, while most of the visual attractions are northwest of the stadium (I'm a little shaky on my DC geography). Also, other than the Washington Monument (and maybe the dome of the Capitol), the other buildings and memorials aren't all that tall and would be tough to see over the stadium and through the trees. Unlike other cities, Washington doesn't have a high skyline - the skyscrapers are in Alexandria - which makes it difficult to try and configure the park to see some of that skyline.

[Roger Clemente]

My bad.  Here's more:

Two club lounges with seating for 1,800 will features indoor dining: the 500-seat Founders Club and the 1300-seat Diamond Club will provide bar and dining services.

Those now increases the capacity to 41,312. That's more like it.

I'm dissapointed. With the famous buildings like the Capitol and the White House, it looks bland.

The two lounges combined will seat 1800 (500+1300). It's not two lounges of 1800 each.

Okay, the new total is 39,512. It's 1,488 short.

The totals said "approximately". There could be a few hundred more seats in each level that they didn't round up with.

--Roger "Time?" Clemente.

[VandyDelphia Mike]

It's about time a faux-retro finish didn't get put on a new stadium. While it was nice to recapture asymmetrical designs, it seemed like some teams were trying way too hard to recapture that vibe, just because it was the cool thing to do.

There was also a time when building a multi-purpose, astroturf, cookie-cutter round doughnut was the style. While the copycat mentality was even more evident in that era of stadium building, you can't deny the "me-too" feeling of recent newly built parks.

One other thought: Washington going with a plan like this may also be a dig at Camden Yards, and the AL rivals up I-95, by having their home be the anti-Camden Yards ... just a thought.

[SEMOSTLfan]

I like the design, a bit more modern than i would have expected but i think its a good thing. Has kind of a petco park feel to it. Now that I think about it, this park bears a striking resemblence to the proposed Labatt Park that was supposed to be built in Montreal. Wonder if that had any influence. I'm assuming this all but sews up baseball staying in DC. Glad to see that.

[The_Admiral]

I dunno, I wouldn't rule out Washington somehow bungling it. City Council can blow this dealat any point between now and the first pitch in the new park.

[ProvidenceRI]

Yawn.

Too much like petco.

Don't they realize this design will feel outdated in 10-20 years?

They should have used a Greek revival look to mimic the landmarks in DC.

[pcgd]

They should have used a Greek revival look to mimic the landmarks in DC.

Agreed 100%.

[amare32]

I was hoping the orientation of the ballpark would allow for views of the Capitol or Washington Monument in the outfield.  It looks like the parking garage would block that view.  I hope I'm wrong about that.

In any event, it's good to see the Nats future home.  Hooray for baseball in DC!

I spoke too soon! From the Washington Post article on the ballpark --

"The ballpark, scheduled to open in March 2008, will offer views of the river on one side and of the U.S. Capitol dome on the other."

In this video you can see the Capitol dome far off in the distance in LF. It'd be nice if it loomed larger, but it's plenty good for me.

[amfleisch]

Yawn.

Too much like petco.

Don't they realize this design will feel outdated in 10-20 years?

They should have used a Greek revival look to mimic the landmarks in DC.

too much like petco, comerica, citizens bank, great american, and somewhat new busch for me. HOK has gone from predictable retro to predictable modern with the split upper deck again. nothing special...