The big question that everyone has been asking over the last month or so is "will the Nationals new ballpark be done on time?"
Now we can say with great confidence that the answer is "yes." The D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission has received a conditional certificate of occupancy from the city that will allow the team to use the ballpark to play baseball. Now, this doesn't mean the stadium is 100 percent, totally, absolutely done. It just means that things are complete enough that there are no safety issues this would prohibit an event from being carried out in the facility.
A commission spokeswoman tells me there are some so-called "punch-list" items that need to be done between now and Opening Night. In plain-English, that means they're talking about fixing any outstanding minor flaws, like bad paint jobs, broken electrical outlets or loose plumbing. I learned that in Great Britain, they call this process "de-snagging."
In my recent visits to the ballpark, it appeared that nearly all of the unfinished work was related to the aesthetics of the facility. Lights have been tested over the last few weeks. Plumbing's been tested. The scoreboard's been tested. Even emergency sirens and announcements have been tested (I know, because when I visited the park a couple of weeks ago I repeatedly heard a booming voice telling me to exit the ballpark in a quick but orderly fashion.)
Hopefully by Opening Night, we'll have a ballpark that's fully de-snagged.
