Wisconsin and M

Inspiration for a DC Shibe?

Nats Blog makes a worthy case that a new ballpark in Washington should evoke the classical marble architecture of the Federal Triangle.

But commenter Natsural counters:

No monuments! For a baseball stadium, I think an architectural connection to the rest of federal Washington is NOT the way to go. The two most beautiful buildings in Washington are the Indian Museum and the National Cathedral and they are NOT federal. They're so different from the rest of what we've got, they make all of the fed buildings look stodgy (which they are!).

This got me thinking of the buildings I most like in Washington: Healy Hall and the townhouses in Georgetown, the State, War & Navy Building, and the Smithsonian Castle.

Others that spring to mind include the Riggs Bank at Wisconsin and M in Georgetown, the Willard Hotel, and St. Matthew's Cathedral.

So how about for Washington a ballpark reminiscent of Philadelphia's old Shibe Park with its French Renaissance cupola, or Boston's old South End Grounds, with its pennant-topped turrets?

Meantime, who knew there was a politics-and-baseball blog actually called the South End Grounds? Must bookmark.