Next week should bring two milestones in the drive to put the Nationals' new stadium in Near Southeast: the expected decision on an architect, as well as CFO Natwar Gandhi's final evaluation of the 8 proposals for private funding of the stadium project. The Post has had articles in the past two days on each: Marc Fisher's column "Grand Plan For Ballpark Raises Stakes" about developer Herbert S. Miller's plan to "build a baseball village -- an urban center with 750 apartments, plus restaurants, clubs, small shops, hotels and a few big-box retailers". Today, David Nakamura writes "Stadium Architects Fear More of the Same," about the feelings that architectural firm HOK Sport, which has designed 10 of the last 14 stadiums built for Major League Baseball, has been given the inside track on the project, with the need for speed perhaps trumping the desire for "a modern and memorable design." (JD editorial note: I have to admit that I like the Camden Yards/retro-brick stadium look, and I'm not sure how much DC really needs to be on the stadium design forefront, with a "soaring glass and steel" architecture. But we'll see what is put forward.)