WASHINGTON — A building boom has taken off around Nationals Park, promising a new era of entertainment, shopping and restaurants.
But the construction projects, at least a half dozen, come with some growing pains for baseball fans.
“In the interim, the construction is providing some challenges,” says Gregory McCarthy, the Nationals vice president of community engagement.
While the team has no control over the construction sites, it would like to see them tidied up more on game days.
“Our fans have been telling us pretty consistently that they’ve noticed dirt and gravel on the streets and a lot of dust in the air,” McCarthy says. “A couple people have said it’s begun to bother them as well as make their clothes dirty.”
That’s been enough to catch the club’s attention and work toward a solution.
McCarthy said Friday he had spoken with the District Department of Transportation about getting developers to clean up earlier and more thoroughly.
The intent is to compel the sites to wash the streets and brush the gravel after construction halts on a game day.
Another idea is lengthen the window of time when construction is prohibited for a home game, using the extra hour to clean up the streets and sidewalks.
But any changes will go unnoticed for a while. The Nationals open a 10-game road trip Friday.
