January 25, 2008
Morning Roundup: Stadium of the Union Edition
Happy Friday, Washington. Although, let's be honest, this particular Friday would be a whole lot happier if it was a payday also. January's always an awfully long month once those holiday credit card bills start coming in, and the idea of having to pay rent once again in only a week might seem a bit daunting - just ask the folks who live in the historic wing of the Kennedy-Warren apartment building next to the National Zoo. The Post reports that a group of tenants of the building are staging a mass rent strike in protest of a $233 monthly renovation surcharge their landlord is trying to impose. President Lyndon B. Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird, lived in the building at one time, but now it is home to a mix of wealthy tenants in the newer units and middle-income residents living in the older part of the building still subject to rent control. Rent control advocates argue that the building's owner is using extravagant renovations as a tactic to kill rent control. We don't have any good reason to withhold rent from our landlord here at DCist HQ this month, but if you, say, have any bright ideas about how we can keep some extra money for ourselves this month, leave 'em in the comments.
Here We Go Again: Looks like Mayor Fenty is getting more serious about the idea of trying to bring the Redskins back to the District. NBC4 reports that the mayor has decided to put together a proposal to ask Dan Snyder to consider leaving FedEx Field for a new stadium in the District, most likely at the RFK site. The proposal has not even been started yet, but Fenty apparently wants to start pumping up the idea now, and has asked CFO Natwar Gandhi to start crunching the numbers on erecting a 100,000-seat domed stadium in the District, the kind that also could be used for Super Bowls.
Noose Found at Nationals Stadium: A noose was found at the site of the new Nationals stadium yesterday, and officials have since announced that two workers would be fired as a result. The noose appeared in a break room for construction workers on Tuesday, and the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission conducted an investigation after it was reported. The two employees to be fired both work for Truland Systems, an electrical subcontractor. A Truland employee had only two months ago been accused of making racially insensitive remarks.
Briefly Noted: A teenager died after being struck by a car Thursday night in Silver Spring ... Parking cameras will double ticket revenues, study finds ... Medicaid expected to improve in D.C. ... Alexandria reaches settlement with taxicab companies.
This Day in DCist: In 2007 we talked to Henry Rollins and Ted Leo about why shutting down all-ages shows in the District was a bad idea, and in 2005 we welcomed Postie Joel Achenbach to the blogosphere.
Photo by Matt Adams (smada77)
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Save money: take the bus. Since the prices have gone up for metro, I've switched to using buses, and saved about 1.50 a day. Even better, the bus stops are closer to both house and work, making my walk much shorter, which I appreciate in this weather.
I believe it was stated in the NBC4 article, or another, that the proposed new stadium at the RFK site would have a retractable roof, not a fixed dome.
The proposal has not even been started yet, but Fenty apparently wants to start pumping up the idea now, and has asked CFO Natwar Gandhi to start crunching the numbers on erecting a 100,000-seat domed stadium in the District, the kind that also could be used for Super Bowls.
Ha, ha! Yeeeeaaaaahhhhh boyeeeeeee!
Now this is a stadium proposal I can get behind if for no other reason than I live about a 15 minute walk from RFK and this should help my currently sagging property value.
I think Snyder is smart enough to realize that the more money he puts into the stadium, the more money he can eventually take out and will follow the lead of JKC and Abe Pollin by paying for the stadium himself . . . after getting some sort of sweetheart deal.
Can't say I see the upside to a new Skins stadium. Point of pride to have the team back in the District, I suppose. I don't see any arguments for economic activity spread to the surrounding neighborhood that you can (at least sort of) plausibly make for the Nats stadium. A football stadium gets used, what, a dozen times a year at most if the playoffs break right and you get a couple of big summer concerts? And domes are an abomination anyway.
Still is a dumb idea, Fedex is only 10 years old, is the largest stadium in the NFL and what the hell would they do with it after the Redskins left? It would simply collect dust, lame idea and besides the Redskins suck. GO PATS
Highly doubtful that Washington will ever host a Super Bowl, unless the new stadium is an enclosed dome. The NFL has a policy of only scheduling the Super Bowl in enclosed stadiums or in places with warm, dry winter climates.
Enough with paying for the construction of playgrounds for billionaire sports team owners. We're doing it for the Nats, we just gave another $50 mil to Abe Pollin for the Verizon Center...enough's enough. The money that would go into the construction of a stadium for the Skins could be put to so many better uses.
And so could Gandhi's time.
I am sure Dan Snyder will go along with the deal as long as they allow him to insitute a $20 surcharge for anyone comeing out of the Metro.
Let me get this straight...DC United *wants* to build a stadium in DC that would be used between 25 and 50 times a year (depending on whether it's used as a concert venue), many residents in the Poplar Point area support the proposal, and Fenty tells United to piss off...
...and then runs of and begs the Redskins to leave their 10-year-old golden goose (sure it sucks, but it generates a ton of revenue) to return to a neighborhood in DC that may or may not want another stadium (esp. one nearly twice the size of RFK)...a stadium that will be used maybe 12 times a year.
What, the District has some money left over after the land acquisition cost overruns for Nationals Park, and it's just burning a hole in Unilateral Adrian's pockets? Were the savings from shutting down the property tax scam so great we can go throwing money at The Daniel now?
Whatever. Enjoy your one term, dude.
I love that our city can't do anything right, except come up with more ideas on how to generate revenue via parking tickets.
since all of dc's other problems have been solved, why not build another stadium!?
A taxpayer-subsidized baseball stadium wasn't enough; we need taxpayer-subsidized soccer and football stadiums, too.
It's not a welfare for sports millionaires, though. The city is going to build a fourth, affordable stadium, too.
Ed, Fenty didn't tell United to piss off, he said that he needs to look at whether or not a soccer stadium makes sense there.
@HCE: I have no beef with that, I just can't bring myself to venture out of Virginia and into the hell hole that is Maryland
The real question about rebuilding RFK would be how do we use the land wisely.
It wouldn't be a bad idea to rebuild RFK, but we've got to redevelop the ridiculously wasted lands around it. Acres of waterfront (ok, sludgefront) land used as parking lots is just plain stupid.
Since we love the high end condos so much, why not incorporate condos into the stadium itself? Stadiums are usually, what about six stories high? Why not build four or five more stories of condos, retail, whatever. They'd be super high dollar, both because of the uniqueness and because of the stunning views you'd have in all directions.
Make it a structure that is truly multi-use.
Use RFK as a jumping off point for development, not as the only focus of development.
Continue that same idea through the entire area.
Um, I thought the Feds owned RFK. How can Fenty make offers on something he doesn't own?
"The D.C. metro area is large enough to support two NFL franchises. After the Redskins move to a new stadium in the District, the Patriots will be relocated to FedEx Field, and will be known as the Maryland Massholes."
HCE - how do you get a pompous New Englander to shut up about their sports teams? Start talking about hockey.
As a pompous New Englander, I find that amusing. 3 out of 4 ain't bad.
Monkey, silly Monkey. Don't you know 'ownership' and 'ownership society' in DC is so passe. We're all just one happy communal living soiree... we share and share alike, until we don't.
Monkey,
Although the Feds own RFK, DC has administrative control of the RFK site, so as long as the site is occupied by a stadium.
And, this goes for the future of the site as well. So, if DC builds a new stadium on the site, it would still retain administrative control, effectively stalling NCPC's own plan for the site.
So, if DC builds a new stadium on the site, it would still retain administrative control, effectively stalling NCPC's own plan for the site.
So DC can just build a new stadium on the site with no approval from NCPC? I'm not saying you're wrong, but I can't see the Federal gov't just rolling over like that.
Even if this stadium were to be built (which would be beyond stupid) I can't believe The Danny can just up and walk out of FedEx. I mean, I assume Maryland extracted some sort of guarantee from Snyder as a precondition for building him a stadium in the first place, no?
Even if this stadium were to be built (which would be beyond stupid) I can't believe The Danny can just up and walk out of FedEx. I mean, I assume Maryland extracted some sort of guarantee from Snyder as a precondition for building him a stadium in the first place, no?
The Danny can just up and walk out of FedEx. I mean, I assume Maryland extracted some sort of guarantee from Snyder as a precondition for building him a stadium in the first place, no?
Snyder owns FedEx Field, he can do what he wants. I read somewhere that the foundation/underlying superstructure (or something like that, I'm not an architect or an engineer) was designed so that if you tear down the stadium there's already a foundation for a mall or something like that.
Screw football. Bring on Thunderdome: yuppie kickballers vs. emo hipsters. Or feed the P Street doubleparking churchies to the lions, if the Nation Zoo rat control crowd hasn't poisoned them yet.
my guess as to why fenty is getting excited about tearing the skins away from fed ex field - national harbor. dc officials are still pissed about that monstrosity of a convention center going up in the pgc when we have a perfectly good, just built monstrosity right here in the district. i'm guessing fenty is looking to stick it to our neighbors to the east any way he can, gangsta style. you f@#% with my revenue, i f@#% with yours :-)
get 'em a.f.!
dc dawg: You're right on the money.