From Monday's Examiner: ""District government leaders are now in general agreement that commissioning and purchasing artwork for the Washington Nationals' new ballpark will not violate the $611 million stadium construction cap. Mayor Adrian Fenty has moved to shift $770,000 from the city's equipment leasing fund and into the budget of the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, which will use it to purchase artwork, including sculptures, for the 41,000-seat stadium. [...] The arts commission has issued three "calls for artists" this year for projects tied to the stadium -- for bronze figures, for "garage enhancements" and for a "suspended installation" in the main concourse. The art will be temporary and eventually moved to another location[.]"

From Friday's Washington Times: "The Washington Nationals have contributed less than $8 million toward the construction of their new ballpark in the District, though club officials publicly said the team would spend as much as $50 million on stadium improvements. The $611 million, city-funded ballpark along South Capitol Street is on schedule to be completed by March of next year, and it appears likely the stadium will be built with just a handful of upgrades and enhancements from the Nationals. The team's contributions include between $2.5 million and $3 million for an expansion of the ballpark's center-field restaurant, about $2 million to improve the stadium suites and about $3 million to upgrade the scoreboard and video display." The article goes on to highlight the various statements from team officials over the past few months about the size of possible contributions, but also lists the type of outlays the team may be making that will contribute to the ballpark-going experience.

I couldn't bear the icky gray photos I had to post last week with the overcast weather, so I went out again this morning and took a new batch of icky gray photos. So check the main Stadium Exterior Construction Gallery as well as the north/south/east/west additional views. The most striking change at the stadium in the last week is the work near Half and N on the west parking garage, which now has its fake limestone facade that matches the stadium.

WTOP has a piece on last night's stadium Transportation Operations and Parking Plan open house, emphasizing that planners are still looking for 5,000-7,000 parking spaces, and that street parking anywhere near the stadium on gamedays will get you ticketed and towed. Ken Laden of DDOT is quoted as saying that they're hoping 50% of stadiumgoers will arrive via Metro; and the article says that "Metro is preparing for that crunch. The transit agency says it will add up to 18 additional cars on game days during the pre- and post-game peak hours."

More posts: parking, Nationals Park