* This morning the
WMATA board approved plans to lease the
Southeastern Bus Garage and the adjoining Van Street lot to the Nationals. However, it appears that the revenue will now go into Metro's general fund, instead of back into the fund for the new Southeastern Bus Garage at DC Village. See
this entry for more info on the lease plan as presented to the board. I may have more on this later today. WMATA is shutting down operations at the garage tomorrow (Friday March 28). The lease for the Van Street lot, with 80 spaces, begins Saturday; the garage itself, which can accommodate about 230 spaces, will be leased starting around April 20. These 310 spaces are all in the $35-per-game Red zone.
* Also on Friday, at 11 am,
Metro will be holding a ceremony in honor of the
reopening of the west entrance of the Navy Yard Metro station. Whether the station actually opens tomorrow,
I don't know. They are saying
it will be open Saturday morning for National Marathon spectators. And of course Saturday afternoon for the Nats-O's exhibition.
* A correspondent reports that I Street is now open to traffic between New Jersey and South Capitol. I'm guessing that there's probably still some beautifying to be done, but I was told it would be "driveable" by Opening Day, and that appears to have been met.
* The Nats are showing off the kids' Strike Zone area of the
ballpark this afternoon, and letting the media try some of the food that will be sold in the stadium--check back later for photos.
* Today's
Ballpark and Beyond column in the Post showed some of my photos documenting the makeover of the South Capitol and Potomac intersection--here's
the complete batch, from one month before the start of ballpark construction up until a few days ago.