Cubs Reveal Another Wrigley Renovation Plan

[roylestillman]

The Cubs released some info regarding a new renovation plan for Wrigley and the properties they own around it. Its part of a plan they have started shopping around to Wrigleyville neighbors. The real story here is that this "scoop" was broken by the new upstart e-paper DNAinfo Chicago, a publication entirely owned by the Ricketts family, (a seemingly credible news source which has lured away Pulitzer Prize winning writer Mark Konkol from the Sun-Times.) The plans will be formally released on January 19th.

So in their usual bumbling way, the Cubbies have now managed to piss off mainstream media by having the story "broken" by their family enterprise. The Ricketts can't seem to get out of their own way.

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20130...ide-park-hotel

[DumpJerry]

Bigger dugouts! The fans' voices have been heard!!!!

[LITTLE NELL]

Originally Posted by DumpJerry

Bigger dugouts! The fans' voices have been heard!!!!

Bigger dugouts=more wins.

[moochpuppy]

Darn, was hoping this was a complete tear-down restoration.

[Red Barchetta]

The mystique of that ballpark is the only thing that organization has going for it. No way would they draw 3M "fans" each season if they played in a clone of Olympic Stadium located in the suburbs.

The smartest thing they can do is to continue and invest in the tourism dollars and build on the Wrigley Field mystique. It has nothing to do with winning baseball, however that's not their goal.

[PalehosePlanet]

Still don't know why Wrigley is a landmark; the stadium is of zero architectural significance.

Also, the article makes it sound like the team is working with at least 80 acres of space. Hotel, retail shops, parking, etc...How much space are they working with?

[doublem23]

Originally Posted by DumpJerry

If they renovate "too much," the tourists might want to check out the Water Tower instead.

Right now, The Urinal has cache for how it looks now. If they start adding more display ads (can't do unless the landmark designation is changed) and whiz-bang electronics, then it is just another baseball stadium and not "beautiful Wrigley Field."

I doubt that. Fenway has been gutted and tourists still talk about it like its some kind of shrine. Unless they tear Wrigley down to the foundation, people will still think the LED scoreboards and canned pop music are all part of the Jazz Age charm