Impressions of Nationals Park
May 22nd, 2008 by matt
Went to a Nats game last night (the Phillies destroyed them, 12-2). This was the first time I’ve been to the new park since it opened this year.
What a disappointment.
Compared to RFK, it’s a magical fairy world filled with wonderment. Compared to any other new ballpark built in the last five years, it’s pretty much the same thing. The park has no real identity. It feels cookie-cutter in the same way RFK truly was a cookie-cutter stadium. The differences between Nationals Park and Citizens Bank Park, where the Phillies play, are not significant. Oh sure, there are cherry trees planted at Nationals Park and Citizens Bank Park has a giant bell that rings when the Phillies hit a home run, but these are superficial differences at best.
Where is the effort to make the park fit in with the identity of the city? Nationals Park is a giant concrete and steel I-beam structure, just like all the new parks. If the designers truly wanted to build a park that fit in with DC, they would have white pillars supporting various structures instead of steel I-beams, ornate iron handles on doors instead of aluminum handles, brick walkways instead of poured concrete. The stadium should feel like a monument so it fits in with all the other monuments in the city. Instead, it sticks out like a modern disposable stadium.
The Nationals had a golden chance to build a stadium to rival the best stadiums in the country. Instead, they built one that is, at best, forgettable. The fans, and our nation’s capital, deserve more.