As the clock ticks toward Opening Day (38 days away!), it's normal to be wondering about the status of some of the other projects near the
ballpark. I've just gotten an update from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development on
Diamond Teague Park, the planned public plaza with water taxi piers on the banks of the Anacostia just across from the stadium's grand staircase at
First and Potomac. The design of the park is being finalized, but you can see recent site maps and renderings on
my project page (there are also links to enlarged versions of those images for better viewing).
The city is continuing to work with the
Army Corps of Engineers to get permits for the piers. After the Army Corps signs off, some DC permits will need to be approved, and then construction on the park's first phase can begin--this will include all of the "in-water improvements" (i.e., the piers) and the portion of the park that's closest to the waterline. It's expected that
this first phase will be completed by the time winter arrives in late 2008. The northern portion of the park site sits on land controlled by
WASA, and must wait for those operations to be relocated before that part of the park can be built.
In the meantime, the park site will be "beautified" for Opening Day, with plans for a bit of a cleanup, new plantings, sandstone, etc.
As for the
RiverFront site next door (which we all know as Florida Rock but which the developers want me to call either "FRP" or "RiverFront" to prevent confusion between themselves [
Florida Rock Properties/FRP Development Corp.] and the not-involved-with-developing-the-site
Florida Rock Industries)--I've been told that new fences will be put up around the site by Opening Day, to pretty things up a bit along that stretch as well.