Built at the Speed of a Fastball, Stadium Is Ready for Nationals

Eugene Robertson of Hyattsville paints the stairs at Nationals Park as final preparations are made before tonight's exhibition game between Washington and Baltimore. The Nationals' season opener is tomorrow. (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)
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"The punch list," he called it.

"We had a lot of naysayers," Strompf said, sounding immensely satisfied. "The only way I was going to put those fears to rest was to go out and build it."

Nationals President Stan Kasten referred to the "inevitable infighting" that took place involving the city, the team, the construction contractors and others while the fast-paced project was underway.

"Sure, we had issues, lots of them, all the time," he said. "But the predictions of turmoil were greatly exaggerated. We all will continue to work together to make it better. We want it perfect on Opening Day, and then we expect to improve on that."

At M and Half streets SE, a short fly ball from the stadium's outfield gates, Fenty and other officials gathered later in the morning to formally declare another project a success: the $20 million expansion of Metro's Navy Yard Station on the Green Line. With parking at a premium around the ballpark, officials for months have been urging fans to use public transportation.

Metro said it will operate 10 extra Green Line trains for Saturday's game and 15 extra trains on Sunday, each six to eight cars long.

Metrobuses on the N22 route between the Navy Yard Station and the Eastern Market and Union Station Metro stops will run every 10 minutes from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. today and from 11 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. tomorrow, Metro said. The buses are an option for fans not wanting to transfer to the Green Line from other Metrorail lines.

Back at Nationals Park, officials pointed out that the ballpark has been officially certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, the first major stadium in the country to receive such a designation.

The award means the stadium has met the council's criteria for environmental sensitivity, including plumbing systems that conserve water, energy-efficient field lighting, the use of recycled materials in construction, and water-absorbing vegetation on the roof of a large concession stand on the north plaza, by the left-field seats.

"This is a symbol for every D.C. resident that they can be proud of," Matthew Cutts, chairman of the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission, said of the ballpark.

As head of the city agency overseeing the project, Cutts, a lawyer, will have an honorary role in tonight's exhibition game. He'll officially begin the contest by shouting the home plate umpire's traditional command:

"Play ball!"