Ballpark Concept Becomes Concrete

The fence's dimensions will give fans plenty to argue about, the architects hope, as they debate which hits could have been home runs if they had only been a few feet to the right or left, and which games might have been won or lost.

Fans will notice how the fence along the first base line jogs out a few feet toward right field, rather than following a straight line. There was no need to do it, "it was just fun for baseball," said Spear, who also designed Camden Yards and has made a career as an architect of ballparks across the nation.

"Everywhere you look we want there to be something different to see," Spear said.

Many of America's older, venerable ballparks were built in stages over the years and their peculiarities came from being added onto and adjusting to their neighborhood surroundings. That was not necessary in Nationals Park, but Spear and Purnell decided to try to build some curiosities anyway.

The outfield of Washington's old Griffith Stadium, home to the Senators, bordered several homes, and its center field had to detour around a large tree. In homage to that, the architects designed a small notch in the left-center field wall of the new ballpark. Depending on which side of the indentation a line drive hits, the ball will bounce left or right.

"Hopefully, our outfielders will know that," said Purnell, who years ago turned down a chance to join a Boston Red Sox farm team to study architecture at the University of Michigan. His firm, Devrouax & Purnell, also helped design the new Washington Convention Center and oversaw the renovation of Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium for the Nationals' first two seasons.

Early in the new ballpark's design, the restaurant above the left field stands was drawn to be "iconically . . . reminiscent of a tree," in honor of Griffith Stadium, Purnell said. But that idea was dropped, as were plans to cloak some walls in granite and use more glass, both of which were considered too expensive for a project with an overall price tag of $611 million.

At the peak, about three dozen architects from Purnell's and Spear's firms worked on the project. And even now, less than three months before Opening Day, about 10 labor on final changes.

Unlike many major construction endeavors, the ballpark is a "design-build" project, which means ground was broken and construction begun before the architects finished their plans. The process has not made for dramatic changes from original conceptions, but there have been alterations, Spear said.

Seats, interior walls and doorways have been moved as plans changed and construction continued. Sometimes work crews are operating only days behind the completion of drawings. But the architects vowed the ballpark will open on time.

In the meantime, the initial reviews of the design are raves. Students and teachers from the Academy of Construction and Design at Cardozo Senior High School were among the ballpark's recent visitors.

"This is too cool," said academy manager Shelly Morrison as she stepped out to the club level and got her first view of the playing field. "I don't know too much about baseball, but I'll come for the ambience."