Results tagged “stadium>”

With their chances of making the postseason finally dashed on Saturday night after a heartbreaking 2-2 draw in Kansas City, D.C. United's focus moved from the inconsistency of their on-the-field performance to their arguably much more intriguing off-the-field affairs. Besides a potential coaching change and plenty of questions about a major shake-up in the front office, the more pertinent debate is perhaps the still-looming issue of finding a new home for the club.

Remember those fancy renderings of Nationals Park, the ones which showed it as a center of lively activity from both the land and the river? While the development freeze on the land side has been well documented, we were recently wondering about what's been going on with the plans to make the riverside a fun place to hang out too.

Today the Post ran a story about how D.C. United has sent an online poll to their fans, asking them to rank, in order of preference, where they'd like to see a new stadium built. The three options are the Dulles Corridor, Lower Montgomery County, or the District of Columbia. If you didn't get the survey via email from the team, you can click here to share your thoughts. Along with asking how many games you think you'd be able to attend depending on where the stadium is built, the second question is perhaps most telling: "Assuming there is not a new stadium option for D.C. United within the District of Columbia, please rank each of the following two possible stadium locations based on your preference: Dulles Corridor/Dulles Airport or Lower Montgomery County." The survey will remain online through the end of the week.

Victor MacFarlane, the San Francisco-based real estate magnate, has sold his share of D.C. United to partner Will Chang, another San Francisco real estate executive. Chang now owns 98% of the team, with former Dukies Christian Laettner and Brian Davis splitting the rest. Chang and MacFarlane bought the team in 2007 and have been particularly active in pushing new stadium developments in both Poplar Point and outside the District in Prince George's County. While the initial reaction may be panic — Red Bulls supporters could be heard chanting "St. Louis United" tauntingly after last night's D.C. win — there is a belief out there that MacFarlane's demands went beyond a stadium to include an entire complex. Either way, the next few months may hold some very interesting developments in the future of the club in the D.C. area.

On Saturday, before the D.C. United-Toronto FC game, about 500 United fans marched from Lincoln Park to RFK Stadium in support of keeping the team in the D.C. area. The march was organized by fans and supporters' groups and had the support of the team.

There's a report from the Associated Press that hit the wires a little while ago about how D.C. United fans rallied in Annapolis today to shore up support for the team's move to Prince George's County. The reporter counted about 60 people in attendance at said rally, the result of the team's push to get supporters to come out for hearings on the stadium issue set for today at the Maryland General Assembly. Earlier this month, United sent out a letter to fans begging them to support their move out of the city. We're curious, D.C. United fans: what did you make of the letter? Are you, at this point, in favor of the move? Or did you just feel like the team was asking you to support them abandoning the District? We've pasted the full letter, dated March 10, after the jump.

When news came down last month that D.C. United was planning on moving to Prince George's County, we expressed both sadness that the team would depart the city, but also relief that at least it's not us on the line for another new stadium during a recession. Now it seems that county officials are having some second thoughts.

Big local soccer news came in late last night: according to D.C. Wire, D.C. United has a press conference scheduled on Monday to announce that a bill will be introduced in the Maryland legislature that will allow United to move into a new stadium somewhere in Prince George's County. The report states that executive chairman Victor MacFarlane is currently scouting three potential locations for a new 24,000-seat venue, all near Blue Line Metro stations: two at Morgan Boulevard, one at Largo Town Center.

If the thing weren't solidly anchored to the ground, we might expect to find the District's new baseball stadium hiding somewhere in a corner. After all, the last few months have seen enough bad news for Nationals Park to make even the most confident of publicly financed ballparks a little glum.

Baseball season comes to its end over the next week, as the World Series is set to unfold between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Philadelphia Phillies. Here in D.C., we celebrate by freaking the eff out all over again over the cost of the brand new Nationals Park. Not only did hardly anyone go to Nats games in their new ballpark this year, but now we're hearing about how the whole endeavor actually cost over $690 million, quite a bit more than the regularly quoted $611 million figure. No one, and we mean no one, who followed the lengthy debate over the new baseball stadium could possibly be surprised by this news, but it's still causing quite a bit of consternation in some corners of the D.C. Council.

When news broke last week that the Lerner family was witholding rent payments on the new baseball stadium because they claimed it wasn't fully complete, many residents were predictably peeved. But today the Post is reporting that the D.C. Council may take a step that will similarly annoy everyone else who attends Nats games -- they might raise taxes on tickets and concessions to cover the rent shortfall.

August will soon be upon us, Congress is about to duck out of town and the only thing most people can talk about is presidential politics. But that's not stopping the District voting rights movement, which continues to push forward in its fight for full voting representation in Congress.

Hooray?

As if it wasn't enough that key city officials have not been willing to agree to support $225 million in public financing for a new stadium at Poplar Point (they've been holding at $150 million for the last month), City Paper's Mike DeBonis reports that more than a dozen people were laid off from United owner Victor MacFarlane's company last week -- including Linda Mercado Greene, a former top aide to Marion Barry who helped secure the Ward 8 Council member's pro-Poplar Point stance. Sounds like MacFarlane has rid himself of anyone who could still help shepherd a deal between the District and D.C. United.

Last week we told you about some major Green and Yellow line weekend delays in store thanks to switch replacement work planned for the Mount Vernon Square/7th St-Convention Center Metro station. That news was based on a report from the Washington Post's Get There blog, which unfortunately had the wrong dates listed for when the work would start: anyone who rode the Green or Yellow lines last weekend can attest that the trains were running on a regular schedule. Metro has since sent out the correct information for the affected weekends, and we apologize for repeating the Post's bad information without verifying it with Metro for ourselves.

Remember way back, when there were ungodly Red line delays of almost 30 minutes for four consecutive weekends? You know, the delays that made Metro think that we needed a big break from all track work for a month? Well, those delays seem like a cakewalk in comparison to how upcoming weekend track work that's scheduled for the Green and Yellows Lines at Mount Vernon Square station will alter riders' ability to get places on time.

After all the good reviews of the new baseball stadium, the owners of the Nats seem more than happy to flaunt their newest city-built acquisition. And what better way than an open house?

The area around the new baseball stadium isn't much more than a construction site so far, but the promise of a bustling entertainment district in what was formerly a bleak industrial sector is enough to leave developers and city officials frantic for a new branding. According to a Post article published today:

Despite appearances, this is just the way District leaders hoped it would be: a ballpark set amid a vast Southeast Washington neighborhood in the middle of one of the biggest overhauls in city history. Some 500 acres are to be transformed, spreading south from Capitol Hill to the Anacostia River, sweeping away an accumulation of old auto body shops, sex clubs and debris-filled lots -- so dramatically that officials want to give the area a new name: Capitol Riverfront.

Capitol Riverfront? That's right. No longer will the area be referred to as the Navy Yard, much less Near Southeast. Like many other up-and-coming neighborhoods -- think NoMA, spanning the area north of Massachusetts Avenue between First Street NW and Second Street NE -- the moniker Capitol Riverfront was thought up by the developers responsible for the area around the stadium, most of whom are looking forward to brushing away any memories of what used to exist there. Late last year the Capitol Riverfront Business Improvement District (BID) elected its first board of directors, and their snazzy-yet-generic website gives a glimpse of what the area may eventually grow to be. (If you watch the images scroll across the header on the main page, you'll notice a graphic showing what looks like a big bookstore called "Berdors." Simple spelling mistake or creative way to avoid paying a bookseller money to use their name? We report, you decide.)

D.C. might not have voting rights, but as a terribly small consolation prize, our baseball team is letting us vote on the in-game music in hopes of starting some lasting traditions at the new Nationals Park. Right now you can go to the Washington Nationals web site and select the song to be played on the stadium PA after a home run, during the 7th inning stretch, and after a Nationals victory. Go here to vote; you still have until Wednesday, March 26 at 5 p.m. to do so. The choices range from local acts to jock-rock mainstays to bland and beyond. Here's our breakdown of the races:

We were just forwarded what may be the worst, and somehow at the same time the absolute greatest, Metro ad campaign we've ever run across. The video above, uploaded to YouTube yesterday, is part of WMATA's efforts to make sure as many people as possible take public transportation to the new Nationals Park at the Navy Yard, instead of driving.

We know. After the D.C. quarter debacle, we're getting the message -- voting rights is just too controversial an issue for the American public.

Metro's board will be holding a full public hearing today on the future of the city's most circulated lines, the 30s. The current set of six routes run east to west along Pennsylvania and Wisconsin Avenues, and carry over 20,000 passengers a day from residential areas in Northwest and Southeast to downtown commercial districts - but unfortunately, the routes suffer from a lot of stops and gos along the way, stalling pick up times and elongating rides.

The Nationals have officially announced their complete lineup of food vendors that will serve the new stadium. The list of 11 pretty much runs the gamut of sporting events foodstuffs, including: Boardwalk Fries, Gifford’s Ice Cream, Red Hot and Blue, Hard Time’s Café, and Kosher Sports. Most notably on the list is Ben’s Chili Bowl, whose rumored second location at the stadium has been teasing Nats fans since December. Marc Fisher offers a great breakdown of the local pedigrees of many of the chosen vendors.

Short of making opening day at the new baseball stadium "Ride Metro Here and We'll Give You $100 Day," city officials and team owners are still trying to find a way to deal with what is likely to be a traffic and parking crush come March 29.

Remember the days when then-Mayor Anthony Williams claimed that a new stadium for the Washington Nationals would only cost $400 million? Yeah, so do we. Unfortunately, those days are long gone.