The Washington Nationals want to put a retractable roof over Nationals Park, and they want taxpayers to pay for it.
NBC Washington reports that the Nats have met with city officials, including the mayor, to propose the addition to the stadium. The team has presented photos of the proposed roof as well as estimates of the costs to Mayor Vincent Gray’s office, according to NBC Washington.
The area’s taxpayers already paid $700 million to build the park in 2006, so it’s no surprise that the mayor’s office seems reluctant to pay for a stadium.
Washington Post reporter Adam Kilgore says Mayor Gray was shocked by the team’s proposal and said “no.”
The Nationals’ presentation to the city may have been motivated by generosity the mayor has shown to other teams. The office approved $50 million for jumbotron improvements in the Verizon Center, and the mayor has proposed spending hundreds of millions on a soccer stadium.
Kilgore also says a source told him the proposed roof was “ugly.”
Someone simulated what a roof might look like over Nationals Park and came up with this:
@AdamKilgoreWP @SegravesNBC4 Did you see the simulated image? Its soooo ugly. #nats pic.twitter.com/g8sSny9JCR
— B Sheridan (@DCSportShopped) November 26, 2013
It may not look great, but at least one player wants it:
Christmas list: 1 Large Roof please. ' ol
— Ian Desmond (@IanDesmond20) November 26, 2013
