The New Ballpark
District of Baseball links to a Washington Times story about the design competition for the new SE ballpark, noting that the District wants "a stadium that veers sharply away from the bevy of recently built, retro-inspired facilities and pushes sports design into another generation."
Yikes! That news is exciting and worrisome at the same time. While I agree with the sentiment that we shouldn't simply build another Camden Yards here, trying to come up with a ballpark that "pushes sports design into another generation" is both hard and risky. In 1968, a lot of people thought Veterans Stadium was a design for the next generation -- and it turned out to be one for less than half of a generation.
But I thought I'd use this post to open a discussion of what we'd like to see in the new ballpark. Frankly, I'd be happy with a design that echoes the classical architecture of the Federal Triangle buildings of the 1930s and 1940s (Main Commerce, Justice, IRS etc.) -- staid, yes, but in my view timeless and essentially Washington.
As for other features, I would say definitely no retractable roof. Other things I am still pondering. Thoughts?
posted by DM @ 1:35 PM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I agree that it would be nice to see the DC skyline, but there may be a problem with that. It is not much of a view from that part of SE. I fear that we will have a great view of the SE/SW freeway.
Also, it goes without saying that I think the park should have (1) natural grass; (2) asymmetrical outfield; (3) good out of town scoreboard, as part of one wall. I also prefer bullpens behind the fences.
How about something like the old Palace of the Fans in Cincinnati?
There's enough wind blowing from the halls of Congress to provide a steady breeze without the ballpark facing the river.
I agree the ballpark should be primarily a park and not a monument, but Washington also has good examples of memorials/monuments that are very park-like, with clearly traditional style but also open, accessible and airy. The new WWII memorial really fits well into the park-like setting of the mall, as does the FDR memorial. I think you can do the same with the ballpark.
I just hope the District doesn't carry the whole "we're being occupied by the Federal Government" antagonism (which rejected the Senators name and apparently prevented the Capitol from being part of the logo) too far and come up with a design that is ugly, so they can make some sort of political statement.
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