DC council member Jack Evans, one of the biggest champions of bringing baseball to DC, is angry over the continuing stalemate over the stadium, and has launched a broadside at Major League Baseball, according to NBC4, who quotes Evans as saying that baseball must sign an important new stadium lease or just "move the team somewhere else." Quoting the article: "To sell bonds to build the new stadium along the Anacostia waterfront, Wall Street requires someone to guarantee that the $6 million annual rent will be paid despite any disaster or work stoppage. [...] Baseball is insisting the city bear the cost through expensive insurance. Evans said the city won't commit more money and baseball can move the Washington Nationals again." The money quote from Jack: "This is non-negotiable, so you either agree to this or you go somewhere else, because we are wasting our time. This is non-negotiable, and that's where we are right now," he said. "We are building a $535 million stadium for this group. That's enough." UPDATE: The Post's article ("Baseball Balking Over Stadium Rent") adds background and detail, as does the Washington Times.

Adrian G. Washington, president of the Neighborhood Development Company, has been appointed as head of the Anacostia Waterfront Corporation, replacing Andy Altman, reports Saturday's Post ("Ballpark Area Chief Named"). Washington was raised in Anacostia, has an MBA from Harvard, and has spent 18 years developing and rehabilitating houses in DC. The Post article also says that the AWC has named the four finalists in its search for a "master developer" to oversee the creation of millions of square feet of housing, office, retail, and hotel space expected around the new ballpark. They are: Cordish Co. of Baltimore (which hired architecture firm Michael Graves & Associates, designers of the new Department of Transporation Headquaters around the corner from the stadium site); Monument Realty LLC of the District and its partner Federal Realty Investment Trust of Rockville; Forest City Enterprises Inc. of Ohio and its partner D.C.-based Western Development Corp.; and Akridge of the District. The selection committee is supposed to give its recommendation to the AWC board by early December. UPDATE: Here's the press release on Adrian Washington's appointment.

The 11th Street Bridges EIS web site has posted a two-page Project Overview document explaining (briefly!) the scope of the project and the "aggressive" schedule (with a timetable showing construction of the improvements happening in the 2007-2010 timeframe). There will be two meetings to review the draft set of alternatives before they are selected for detailed study, on Dec. 13 and 14. The handouts from the October scoping meetings are a good place to get general information on what the project is trying to accomplish (mainly, to add additional ramps to allow better access between the 11th Street Bridges and the Anacostia Freeway).

I attended the Community Ballpark Meeting on Nov. 2; it was hosted by the DC Sports and Entertainment Commission, which led to grumbling from the audience that the many DC government agencies who also have a hand in the stadium and surrounding development weren't in attendance. The one real piece of news (to me, anyway) was that the orientation of the ballpark has been decided on, and it's north-northeast, as you can see in the schematic contained in the handout. There are supposed to be public meetings in December to discuss the architecture, which I guess means that the design of the stadium will be unveiled at some point before then (hee hee). They are planning for zoning hearings in January, and now list April 2006 as the groundbreaking date. UPDATE: I've now scanned the 17-page agenda/handout (PDF), which has a lot of bullet points addressing economic opportunities, neighborhood "protection" (i.e., noise, lighting), transportation systems (traffic, parking, Metro), and community activities being undertaken (none of which at the moment are actually in the stadium neighborhood, which brought about much audience angst). UPDATE II (11/11): The Nov. 10 Voice of the Hill has (on page 3) a story on the meeting, detailing the somewhat fractious question and answer session.

This is news from this summer, but I only just now came across it: a story in the September Capitol Hill Restoration Society newsletter (bottom of page 1) describes how the CHRS helped to prevent the demolition of 15 of the 19 existing private homes in the Capper/Carrollsburg footprint as the project goes forward.