By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 5, 2006
Washington Nationals president-to-be Stan Kasten said yesterday that his advisers will review plans for the new D.C. ballpark early next week and that he is confident the project can be completed on time, even though major design elements could change.
Kasten, who oversaw the construction of two stadiums in Atlanta, is expected to play a significant role in shaping the final look and feel of the $611 million stadium project, scheduled to open in 2008 near the Navy Yard and South Capitol Street in Southeast Washington.
"It's not like 10 years or 20 years ago, where the thinking was you had to create all the designs before you put a shovel in the ground," said Kasten, who along with Theodore N. Lerner and other members of the new ownership team joined District leaders and Nationals players for a groundbreaking celebration yesterday at the site.
"Today's thinking is that you can get [the ballpark] partially dug and still refine the designs, which will save you time and money," Kasten said.
In March, managers of the project unveiled designs for a modern-looking complex featuring massive glass panels, steel and concrete. But they are still debating virtually all the finishing details, including the layout of the concourses and clubhouses and what carpeting and upholstery to use in luxury suites, according to baseball and city officials.
Even the exterior might be refined. In drawings, a distinctive knife-edge building, made mostly of concrete, juts out from the rear of the stadium bowl. But architects have developed new renderings that would recast the tip of the building in glass, allowing it to light up in various colors, said Allen Y. Lew, chief executive of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission.
Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), Lerner and more than a dozen others took shovels attached to Louisville Sluggers and turned dirt for photographers and several hundred other onlookers.
"This might be a new attendance record for a groundbreaking," Williams said. D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) said the city had accomplished its baseball goals. "Welcome to our field of dreams!" Evans said. "When we started this process, we had three goals: get a team, get a stadium and get an owner. Today we've accomplished all three."
Construction crews have cleared a substantial portion of the southern half of the site, and workers driving tractors and bulldozers paused only briefly for the festivities before continuing on.
They are facing a tight timetable. Tony Tavares, the current Nationals president, said he would prefer 26 months to complete a stadium project. But the D.C. ballpark is scheduled to be completed by April 2008 -- 23 months away. "Everything has got to go perfectly in order to make that date," Tavares said.
Gregory S. Colevas, a senior vice president for Clark Construction, said workers will dig a giant pit by summer, fill it with structural steel by fall and, in summer 2007, put up the glass, stone and concrete "skin" around the steel. In winter 2007 and early 2008, Colevas said, the playing field and interior of the ballpark will be completed.
Significant questions remain unanswered, however.
Designs call for two boxy parking structures to be built aboveground just north of the ballpark, but city and baseball officials would like to move them underground to clear more room for retail and office space. That would cost an additional $20 million, money the city is seeking.
The team of Lerner, who made his fortune as a developer, and Kasten is expected to bring an influx of ideas, energy and, potentially, dollars to the project, although the Lerner group has not pledged to pay for any of the construction.
In Atlanta, Kasten, longtime president of the Ted Turner-owned Braves and Hawks, was the force behind stadiums for both teams -- Turner Field and Philips Arena, respectively.
Turner Field is known for its wide concourses, a brewpub that overlooks the field and small signs shaped like home plate that indicate how far fans are from home plate. The ballpark is kid-friendly: At one end is Tooner Field, a cartoon-themed interactive area, and Scout's Alley, with more interactive games, which Kasten called essential because children aren't inclined to sit still for a three-hour game.
Janet Marie Smith, an architect who worked with Kasten on Turner Field and Philips Arena, said yesterday that Kasten was innovative, stacking all the luxury suites at Philips on one side of the building in order to lower the upper level of seats.
His buildings also are designed to make money.
"I consider the entire fan experience," Kasten said at a news conference this week, "from the time they leave their house to the time they return home."
In Washington, Kasten will be reunited with Joseph Spear of HOK Sport, the leading sports architecture firm in the country. They worked together on Philips Arena.
Spear, who had recently been discussing the clubhouse layout with Tavares, said he expects Kasten to get involved in the details.
"The thing about Stan is that I don't think he has one recipe," Spear said. "He's going to come to this market and understand what works in a meaningful way to bring fans."
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