WASHINGTON– Mayor Vincent Gray and a host of other political and community leaders cut a red ribbon to officially open the Washington Nationals Youth Baseball Academy in Southeast Washington today.

The $18 million facility sits on a piece of National Park Service-owned property at Fort DuPont and fulfills a promise the Nationals made when they located in Washington: to build a facility to help inner-city DC youth.

It features a 4,800-square foot indoor fitness center and two outdoor baseball fields. D.C. donated over $10 million toward the cost of the facility. Major League Baseball donated $1 million, and the rest was donated by several companies and individuals.

Community leaders said the academy will provide D.C. children a place to go, not only to learn how to play baseball, but to learn good nutrition, healthy lifestyles and healthy competition.

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