WASHINGTON — Prince William County, Virginia, is opening its pocketbook to keep the Potomac Nationals playing in Woodbridge.
The Washington Nationals farm team will play ball at county-owned Pfitzner Stadium through at least the 2018 season in exchange for improvements at the stadium.
“The improvements will include expanding the visitors’ locker room [and] adding square footage which will allow for a manager’s office and a separate training room,” says Debra Andrew, director of Prince William County Parks and Recreation. She pegged the cost of the improvements at $230,000.
Minor League Baseball demanded that the county expand the visitors’ area to keep the team playing at Pfitzner. Showers, bathrooms and a whirlpool are also being added.
As the board voted to approve the spending, County Supervisor Pete Candland wondered whether there’s more money to be spent on Pfitzner Stadium.
“Is this the only expense we know of to get the stadium up to where it needs to be?” Candland said.
The answer is that the county expects to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars more to improve the county ballpark: “We are anticipating that we will need to do some structural repairs to the main stadium structure,” Andrew told the board, adding that the lights might need to be replaced as well.
But the P-Nats have played 31 seasons in Woodbridge, drawing about 200,000 fans a year, and Prince William County is making clear it wants the P-Nats to stay.
“I can’t imagine a post-P-Nats world myself, I don’t want to have to imagine it. I love having a minor league team here in Prince William County,” says supervisor Martin Nohe.
