The developers of the Florida Rock site immediately to the south of the new ballpark have been spending the past few months working to flesh out the new design unveiled back in June, and apparently will be going to the Zoning Commission on Oct. 15 for setdown of their new application for a second-stage PUD. (If you understood almost nothing in that last sentence, don't worry about it.) That means a full hearing on the new design could possibly happen before the end of 2007, and if the bureaucratic gods align, perhaps work could begin on the first phase of the project in 2008. I've received a few new renderings showing a bit more detail, and have added them to my Florida Rock page (I'm not ready to start officially calling it RiverFront on the Anacostia just yet). Look for the icon to see them.

A groundbreaking ceremony is being held at The Yards (once known as the Southeast Federal Center, for you old-timers) on Wednesday morning at 10:30. Speakers on the agenda include Mayor Fenty, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Tommy Wells, and others.

The Post looks into the issue of DC residents getting hired to work on the construction of the Nationals ballpark: "D.C. residents have worked about one-third of the total hours of skilled labor needed to build the Washington Nationals stadium, despite an agreement between the city government and labor unions that half of the hours would go to city workers. The data [...] show that city residents have worked 32 percent of the nearly 650,000 hours worked by journeymen, which include those in trades such as ironwork, electrical, roofing and plumbing. Although the vast majority of lower-paid apprentice work has gone to D.C. residents -- 91 percent -- the stadium contractors have not met the goal of 100 percent established in the labor agreement[....] Under the terms of the labor agreement, if a union is unable to provide D.C. workers to meet a request from a subcontractor, it can ask for assistance from the city's Department of Employment Services. If the agency cannot find a qualified applicant within 48 hours, the subcontractor is free to hire from outside the city." (There was a similar City Paper article a few weeks ago.)