South Capitol Street Will Have to Play Catch-Up

No, both Metro riders and motorists will approach from the north, where, rather than a grand entrance, the architects offer a cramped plaza sandwiched between two boxy parking structures.

But wait: Those boxes are really a political ploy and a sales pitch. The D.C. Council nixed the money for underground parking, but designers nonetheless intend to put the parking below ground, as they should. The ghastly parking towers are in the drawings to scare the Nationals' new owner and developers into coughing up the $28 million needed to dig the hole for parking; investors would then get the right to build retail, residential or offices above the garage.

The trick will be to make certain those buildings are low or graduated enough not to overwhelm the stadium and turn the entrance plaza into a scary, alienating space.

The stadium itself, despite the now-routine overemphasis on suites for the swells, promises to be a people magnet, drawing visitors to a new area of eateries, watering holes and shopping, as well as, at long last, a riverfront stroll.

After too many months of brutal politicking, the stadium plan expresses joy in a game that somehow withstands the endless greed and corruption that attach to professional sports. Somewhere in the outfield stands, the architects plan to re-create the one thing everybody loves about RFK Stadium:

Bouncy seats.

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