Nationals Park is the current ballpark for the Washington Nationals of Major League Baseball. It is the first LEED-certified green major professional sports stadium in the United States. The facility hosted the 2008 season's first game (in North America), when the Nats took on the Atlanta Braves on March 30, 2008. The first game played there was a collegiate baseball game. The stadium is located along the Anacostia River in the Navy Yard neighborhood of Washington, D.C., and replaced RFK Stadium as the Nationals' home ballpark.
The ballpark, designed by HOK Sport and Devrouax & Purnell Architects and Planners, cost $611 million to build. The stadium originally seated 41,888 fans, but some seats from various parts of the stadium have been removed since its opening to reduce the capacity to 41,546 in 2010 and down to 41,487 in 2012. The Washington Monument and the Capitol building are visible from certain areas of the stadium, namely the upper decks on the first base side of the field.
The park's name echoes the original name of the early-1900s ballpark used by the Washington Senators/Nationals, which was called National Park until it was rebuilt and renamed Griffith Stadium. The name was originally a temporary name, as the Lerner Family had planned to sell its naming rights. When a strong bid never surfaced, the team chose to stick with Nationals Park. The stadium and its grounds are owned by the EVENTS DC.
Read more about Nationals Park: Location and Transportation, Features, Seating
Famous quotes containing the word park:
“Linnæus, setting out for Lapland, surveys his “comb” and “spare shirt,” “leathern breeches” and “gauze cap to keep off gnats,” with as much complacency as Bonaparte a park of artillery for the Russian campaign. The quiet bravery of the man is admirable.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)