August 24, 2007
What Does the Stadium Need?
In just a few months, fans will finally get a glimpse of the new $611 million baseball stadium rising in Southeast. No longer will they simply be looking at an artists rendering -- they'll get to see the new concourse, the stands, the suites and the field for themselves. And today the Post's Marc Fisher poses an interesting question -- beyond the bricks and mortar, what should the team's owners offer inside the stadium? After a swing through parks in Cleveland, Detroit and Cincinnati, he has a few ideas to share. He writes:
A big fireworks show after the game. Prominent displays of team history with must-see artifacts of the sort you'd find at the Hall of Fame or the Smithsonian. Local foods, from well-known local eateries. A public address announcer with verve and a sense of fun. Architectural touches that put a big smile on your face.We couldn't agree more. But we'd add the following:
A Good Name: Sure, granting the naming rights to a corporation helps offset the stadium's costs, but there's something less appealing to walking into Minute Maid Park or AT&T Field than there is to Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park or Wrigley Field. The stadium should reflect the city's shared history and traditions, not simply help promote another product or service. And while we'd push for Taxation Without Representation Field until District residents get voting rights, anything is better than a stadium named after Chevy Chase Bank, Verizon, Booz Allen or AOL.
Statues: Along the same lines as giving the stadium a good name, it should also be a place that helps celebrate the people that have contributed to the District's history, whether in politics, sports, arts, architecture or philanthropy. We have no statues of our own in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall, so why not put them in a plaza outside the stadium?
The Presidents' Race: Seeing Abe Lincoln, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Theodore Roosevelt race across the field might be a little generic -- but it's still hilarious. Roosevelt has to win sometime, and there's no better place than in the new stadium. This one's a keeper.
What would you like to see in the new stadium?
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Gay dance and strip clubs...
Perhaps 70 more luxury condos along the upper concourse?
Frederick Douglas Stadium? They could grant naming rights to the field.
Five Guys as a vendor?
Fans?
A winning team?
5 Guys and Ben's Chili Bowl would be epic.
Better throw in a cholesterol screening booth as well.
You're aware, of course, that Wrigley Field is named after the chewing gum brand?
cheap beer ($6 for a bud's still insane), ben's chili bowl stand!, decent smoking areas where you can still see the game, no idea what the name should be, a roosevelt win would be awesome, better leg room . . . a world series win?
#1 - Yeah, put the boys from Wet in shower stalls near the luxury booths.
Marion Barry Field?
Sorry, I love the Presidents race. Nothing generic about it at all. And everyone I've taken to the ballpark from other cities thinks its a totally DC thing and love it.
Local beers. Chop House, Cap City, Foggy Bottom(are they still around?) etc.
Actually, Wrigley Field is not named for the gum, but instead for William Wrigley, the industrialist who founded the gum company and also owned the team. Plus, let's face it, there's a huge aesthetic difference between "Wrigley Field" and "3-Com Park" or other monstrosities.
Speaking of which, I'd like to register a futile plea that they not put in a huge fucking jumbotron in the new stadium. I know, I know...
Actually, Wrigley field is named after the Wrigley family.
the presidents race is a complete knock-off on the sausage races in milwaukee (and to a lesser extent, the pierogie races in pittsburgh)
$6 beers really isn't that bad considering they're 16oz beers ... You figure you pay approximately $5 per 12oz beer at a bar. Plus when I buy a beer at the beer stand I don't think there's any need to tip. So really, it's not that bad when you think about it...
Wrigley Field is a corporate name. Think Wrigley's Gum. . It was originally called Weeghman Park.
Who knows maybe in a couple generations we'll look back on the good times at Synergy Stadium and the Carrier Dome.
:)
It's a foregone conclusion now that Teddy's going to win on his Bobblehead night next Saturday.
Sorry, I have to completely disagree with you on the naming. Booz Field would be an excellent name!
Lots of asshats willing to shell out enough $ to finance this debacle
Carry over the foodcourt patio like they have at RFK. Kiosks by local food institutions - Ben's Chili Bowl or Hard Times, Five Guys, a pizza place (Pizza Boli's or Jumbo Slice), Cluck U (or another decent chicken place).
Flags, tons and tons of flags flapping all over the place.
Cupholders in each seat.
Larger out of town scoreboards than they currently have at RFK.
Half-Smokes, preferably from Ben's. And for the love of all that is good and right, sauerkraut at the hot dog stands.
Get rid of that Dominic's of NY sausage crap and replace it with Half-Smokes, I don't think that Ben's Chili Bowl has cash to finance their own stands, but I would like it if it could. Also Absolutely put a Five Guys in there, they are local success story, and also damn good. For pizza, maybe Boli's because they are also local, but they are pretty much the definition of mediocre, I would rather see Goody's. I just hope they make a great ballpark worthy of what this club is going to be in a few years.
Please, no fireworks! They should be reserved for special occasions, not every night like DisneyWorld. And as much as I like the idea of Ben's Chili Bowl at the stadium, I fear that would be the end for Ben's. Once it gets franchised, which it would pretty much have to be, that usually means it degenerates into generic blandness.
Whatever it's named it needs a good nickname. Like Candlestick was called the Stick or the Astrodome was just the Dome, the Nationals Stadium should just be called "The Natch."
FYI -
Cupholders will be at every seat.
And there will be more leg room. (And width room).
What do I want?
Less fans of out-of-town teams attending the games. I hate those Mets fans.
Local food institutions as vendors:
- Ben's Chili Bowl or M'Dawg (to replace Dominic's)
- Five Guys (to replace or supplement the generic Aramark crapola)
- Jumbo Slice (to replace Papa John's - though JS's pizza, like every other pizza in DC, is sub-par)
- Cluck U Chicken
Additionally, have a special stadium brew by Old Dominion - like there used to be in the Foggy Bottom Brewpub in the Nats' first year at RFK.
Ben's Chili Bowl and 5 guys sound delicious. The only drawback is that they would need to increase the number of shitters in the bathrooms exponentially.
Can you imagine eating that stuff at the game and then not being able to "evacuate"? Oh the humanity...
You're crazy if you think a beer is only going to cost $6 in a new stadium. Expect at least $7.50 if not $8 for 16 oz. of fan fuel.
The Mayor just reprogrammed $700,000 to buy custom-made stadium sculpture for the team’s millionaire owners, though the Council rejected versions of this ill-conceived project twice before.
Public art of this sort is usually funded by the developer or tenant, and government arts agencies provide technical assistance. Well-known local examples include the Washington Convention Center and Reagan National Airport.
Won't this violate the spending cap? This absurd claim is made: even though the artist application for this one-of-a-kind, site-specific art includes architectural drawings of the stadium, the sculpture will be owned by the District and eventually moved elsewhere. This is like saying I just borrow my dental crowns and they can be re-located to your mouth.
The District is also supposed to pay for lighting and maintenance of the stadium artworks, and these costs are not included in the $700K.
I encourage the Lerners to buy their own art, and hope the Council will use this $700,000 to fund a competitive, peer-reviewed Capital Arts Grant Program for DC community arts organizations.
Coming from Cincinnati (home of Skyline, Graeters, Montgomery Inn, and UDF) I must say it is KILLER to have some local food vendors in stadiums, instead of boring overpriced generic pretzles and nachos. Think we can convince ZPizza to open up? I'm all for Five Guys, thats a given!
Giant statue of Walter Johnson.
zPizza is a local food vendor?
please, five guys, it's practically a part of local culture at this point! it even fits the color scheme, white and red. "Nationals Stadium" is the first name I've heard that's so bland, most corporate names would be an improvement; hopefully we get a corporation without any numbers or marketing gimmicks in their name.
There have been rumors (JUST rumors) that Geico is in the running for naming rights to the new stadium, which if it happened would most likely be called "Geico Park". We could call it "The Gekko". ;-)
new jerseys....Just not a fan of the block letters and the gold outline.
32,
Zpizza is from SoCal. Although wouldn't mind having them there.
BostonRay votes: Five Guys to well absorb the $8.00 beers. Also would help one sleep through the losses.
Name: THE SHAFT
Why "The Shaft"? Because it's being built on the site of a nasty old bathhouse?
Regarding statues, there will be three: Walter Johnson, Josh Gibson, and Frank Howard. And the concessionaire will NOT be Aramark.
Aramark is the devil.