The Historic Opening
of the East of South Capitol Street vista:

If only temporarily...

(Photos and captions by Jacqueline Dupree)

Looking north into the stadium footprint from South Capitol Street and Potomac Avenue, the southwestern edge of the site, just before demolition began. (04/06)

The same location, six weeks later (May 20). Much of the demolition is finished. (And the Capitol Dome is more visible now, too.) (05/06)

For more photographs, see the stadium page of Jacqueline Dupree's
"Near Southeast" DC Redevelopment site.

http://www.jdland.com/dc/stadium.cfm

In a sense like the NCPC's 1990s promise of opening up the South of the Capitol building vita, only to be quietly scaled back and dropped, the eastern half of this vista will exist briefly as buildings are demolished to make space for new buildings en mass with the Nationals Stadium complex between Potomac Avenue and N Street SE and its northward adjoining "Ballpark District" between N and M Streets SE.

The recent building demolitions for the stadium complex has opened up the vista northward from Potomac Avenue SE to N Street SE. Note her notation: (And the Capitol Dome is more visible now, to.) Yes, "now" as it becomes significantly less visible with the mass of a baseball stadium with its west wall a more 15 feet of South Capitol Street's existing 130 foot wide right of way.

This will happen to north of N Street, with new development projects, such as that of Monumental Reality at the south-east corner of the intersection of South Capitol and M Streets, where the November 2003 ULI SCS Advisory Services Panel Report and the subsequent March 2005 NCPC South Capitol Street pamphlet show with an open square, with the latter showing St. Vincent de Paul Church removed.

Demolition of the existing buildings, such as the storage facility and the Dominos Pizza outlet will likewise open up this South Capitol Street east vista temporarily between Nationals Stadium and St. Vincent de Paul Church.

If this latter demolition happens prior to Nationals Stadium's erection arises again block this vista, the entire eastern South Capitol vista from Potomac Avenue SE to St. Vincent de Paul Church to be visible for a short period of time, if only for a few months, weeks, or even days.