In what may come to be known as one of the city’s most persistent urban headaches, plans for a 2008 opening of a new stadium for the Washington Nationals may well be delayed. According to an article published Sunday in the W. Times, bidders for the team have accepted that the various obstacles city officials have to overcome may doom the Nationals to playing at RFK Stadium until 2009, possibly even 2010. According to one bidder quoted in the article,

There’s just so much to do down there. There’s no way it’s done for Opening Day 2008. You have land acquisition issues, environmental remediation issues, political issues, design issues. It’s going to be great when it’s done, but these projects are always so complex that it’s shortsighted to simply assume it will be done [in 2008].

In related news, three landowners whose properties sit on the land needed for the new stadium filed suit against the District in federal court last week, reports the Post. The three landowners — one homeowner and two investment groups — allege that District officials have violated their civil rights in their quest to buy or expropriate the lands, part of the 14 acres needed to build the stadium. The lawsuit similarly criticizes a study conducted by District Chief Financial Officer Natwar Gandhi outlining the costs of purchasing the needed land, which recently came under intense scrutiny by Council-member David Catania (I-At Large). The suit states that the three property owners

“…can no longer use their property as they have intended, can no longer accept other offers to purchase their property, and are being forced into an illegal process that will culminate in the seizure of their property.”

Might all these complications and delays, coupled with a recently-announced plan to turn over federal lands adjacent to RFK Stadium to the District, turn the tide against the site in Southeast?

Considering all the back-and-forth over the new stadium, DCist is planning a comprehensive review in the coming days of the issues at hand, the main players, and how the drama might unfold over the next few months.

The image above is an artist’s rendition of what the new stadium may look like, courtesy of Ballparks.com.