Several critical items remain unfinished at Nationals Park less than three weeks before Opening Day, including a deal to shuttle fans from the RFK Stadium parking lots and a policy for the sale of alcoholic beverages at the ballpark.
Opening night at the 41,000-seat Nationals Park is March 30, a nationally televised game against the Atlanta Braves.
While construction is nearly finished, a handful of ancillary issues remain up in the air.
The Nats Express, for example, is advertised by the team as a free ride in a luxury motor coach from RFK’s Lot 8 to the South Capitol Street ballpark, a crucial component of the traffic and parking plan cobbled together for the new park. But the sports commission, which faces a $500,000 shortfall this year, has not yet agreed to the team’s terms.
Gregory McCarthy, Nationals’ director of transportation and planning, told the D.C. Council last month that the team would pay the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission a $215,000 licensing fee for use of the lots, which hold roughly 4,000 vehicles. The Nationals would eventually be reimbursed with non-game day parking revenues generated at the new ballpark.
But officials with the sports commission said Wednesday that the deal was not done.
“We’re still just negotiating the terms for our lots,” said Matthew Cutts, the commission’s chairman. “We’re well along in those talks.”
Chartese Burnette, Nationals’ spokeswoman, said in an e-mail that “there will be FREE parking at RFK and a FREE shuttle to Nationals Park.”
Another complication for RFK parking: Potential conflicts with D.C. United. The most extreme examplemight be June 29, when United faces off against David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy as 12:30 p.m., and the Nationals play the Baltimore Orioles an hour later.
As for alcoholic beverages at Nationals Park, the commission has yet to develop a policy for their sale. How many beers can a person buy at a time? What inning must the taps shut down? Who will be responsible for enforcement of alcoholic beverage laws?
Cutts said a policy is being drafted now, and will be place in time for opening night.
