I couldn't resist one more shot at updated ballpark photos before the weekend's festivities get underway, so I took a few wide shots during this evening's first-ever batting practice at Nationals Park. And then I added some additional shots from today and yesterday to my main Interior Gallery, to bring it mostly up-to-date until I give it the full refreshening after Opening Night. (But of course there *might* be a shot or two posted from the Saturday exhibition, first.)

* As noted in the comments, the west entrance of the Navy Yard station is open for business. Here's today's press release from Metro about the $20 million in improvements that upgraded the entrance's capacity from 5,000 to 15,000 customers an hour, along with a(nother) summary on using Metrobus and Metrorail to get to the ballpark.

* The Nationals team store in the ground floor of the west garage at Half and N is also open for business. Look toward the bottom of this batch of photos from yesterday to see what the store looked like less than 24 hours ago.

* The mayor announced this morning that the ballpark is officially LEED certified, reaching LEED silver status (33 points) thanks to items like high efficiency yield lighting, water-conserving plumbing fixtures, air-cooled chillers, recycling bins, using 20 percent recycled materials in the ballpark's construction and recycling 5,500 tons of construction waste, planting a 6,300-sq-ft green roof on top of the left-field concession building that houses Red Hot & Blue and Hard Times Cafe, and more.

* Oh, I guess I should add this too--the city says the ballpark is ready to open.

* I'm not sure this has been announced (it's hard to keep track), but the Nationals web site is now offering online purchase of parking for single games. It appears the only option as of now is Lot S (at Second and H, just to the west of 225 Virginia Avenue) for $20. There's also the option to purchase single-game handicapped parking in Lot E at First and N for $35, but an official placard or license plate is required.

(Yay! Non-ballpark news!) The *most* asked question at JDLand.com these days (apart from "what happened to the baseball on top of the outfield restaurant" and "can you start covering Southwest") is What's the Deal With Canal Park, the three-block long new public park planned for the strip along Second Street between I and M, which for years has been the home to DC Public School buses. This project was on the boards when I started this site in 2003, and yet has had a hard time getting going, despite a design completed years ago by landscape architects Gustafson, Guthrie, and Nichol Ltd. After originally being under the purview of the defunct Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, the park is now the responsibility of the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

After spending some time explaining what the heck JDLand.com is ("uhhhh, it's, like, this web site, and stuff?"), I was able to get a general update, which jibes with the rumors that have been flying for weeks. A relocation site for the school buses has indeed been found (though they won't say where), but some construction work has to first be done at this undisclosed location to prepare it. It's expected that the buses will be moved there "by the fall," with construction on the park starting soon after, lasting about 12 months. The park is a "top priority" for the city, I was told.

Will it happen? I guess we shall see....