Fenty Joins Baseball Stadium's Fans

The District's $611 million baseball stadium might be the most politically contentious project in recent memory, but as the ballpark's opening in early 2008 approaches, more and more city officials seem to be coming on board.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) was front and center Tuesday as city leaders and Washington Nationals officials broke ground on an expansion of the Navy Yard Metro Station to handle stadium crowds. So were D.C. Council members Phil Mendelson (D-At Large) and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1).

All three had voted against the ballpark funding package several times, with Fenty among the fiercest opponents during his tenure on the council.

"I'm the only guy in the photo who voted yes on the stadium," Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) said with a laugh, after he was nearly squeezed out of the picture during the ceremonial shoveling for the groundbreaking.

Fenty opened his remarks Tuesday with a sarcastic reference to himself being a "big stadium supporter" that drew some awkward laughs from Nationals' front-office members, including co-owner Mark Lerner and team President Stan Kasten.

As the prepared comments from a host of city leaders went on, it was clear that bygones were bygones, and that the project is moving full steam ahead. David A. Catania ( I-At Large), who voted against the stadium, and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) were the only council members not in attendance.

An expanded Navy Yard station, with an increase in capacity from 5,000 riders per hour to 15,000, would help soothe congestion on game days, as well as continue to spur development of the neighborhood, officials said.

"This project has to go forward on time, on budget, and it has to be world-class," Fenty said.

Yet something was missing during all the talk from the politicians: $20 million in federal funds to pay for the Metro renovation.

During the two-year debate over stadium financing, city leaders had pledged to get the funding from the feds by making the case that the Navy Yard station serves the Southeast Federal Center and the new Department of Transportation headquarters being built nearby.

The money is included in Congress's fiscal 2007 budget, but Congress has yet to approve that budget. And with control of Congress now in the Democrats' hands, Metro and the District must make their case all over again, Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) said.

"Our job, and I believe we will succeed, is to convince Congress that not only D.C. will pay the price if the $20 million is not reimbursed, but Uncle Sam himself will pay the price," Norton said.