Two weeks ago, I walked around the neighborhood of the new Nationals Park with Bob Wright of the Baseball History Podcast. I posted a few pictures back then that I took without knowing much about what I was seeing.
Today Jacqueline Dupree, the pre-eminent documenter of the development of Near Southeast DC, led a walking tour of the stadium neighborhood for anybody who showed up.
Although it was very windy and temperatures were in the 30s, the front of 20 M Street SW, a building owned by Lerner Enterprises, showed a temperature of 58 degrees.
.
Because I would have to leave the tour early, I arrived early and prowled around on my own. Here is a new view of the stadium through what will be the main entrance for most people, over left field at Half and N Streets. Notice that the support steel is in place for the upper deck all the way around to third base. The pre-cast concrete is in place for the club level all the way around as well. Most exciting to me, the steel is in place for where I hope to sit: upper deck, first-base side, near home plate. This would be approximately between the two tall cranes in the right-center of the photo.
Although the neighborhood is being converted on a massive scale, it is worthwhile to remember that there are small business still trying to make a go of it. This store is on L Street near New Jersey Avenue, just next to the site of a high-rise construction site (Onyx on 1st).
At about 12:00 noon, the Ballpark Guys and our guide, JD, met at the Navy Yard Metro station at New Jersey and M.
Here is a view of the stadium through some trees at the Anacostia waterfront. This is looking up toward the stadium from the river at the point of the grand staircase. The place where we are standing will eventually be a pedestrian plaza and will be flanked by retail and residential development, as well as a park.
Here is a better look at the location of the grand stairway. You can see the gap between the first-base seats and the right-field seats. This gap is at the point of view of the nighttime rendering visible at the Nationals web site.
Speaking of neighborhood small businesses, this one is still intact. Unlike the New Good and Plenty Carryout, which is now a ruin, this one (whose name I don’t know) is, according to JD, still in operation. It probably serves the stadium construction workers during the week. It’s located on N Street near 1st, directly across from the stadium.
I am very grateful to JD for leading this tour. This will have been my fourth visit to the stadium site in all, and the second one in March. Even in two weeks, change and progress is visible.
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