The Cubs unveiled Monday what they want to see in Wrigley Field soon–more bleacher and box seats, advertising signage inside the park and the touchiest item on their wish list, a dozen more night games a year beginning in 2003.
When the agreement that permitted installation of lights at Wrigley in 1988 expires after next season, “we have asked the city for the right to increase night games from 18 to as many as 30,” said Mark McGuire, the Cubs executive vice president of business operations.
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He said the club would prefer the increase in night contests up front rather than phased in over several years.
In time for next season, McGuire said, the Cubs plan to add 2,100 more outfield bleacher seats, along with 200 to 250 new box seats behind home plate.
In addition, he said, advertising signage could be added inside the park as soon as next season and a parking garage-restaurant-multi-purpose building just west of the ballpark is being planned for as early as 2003.
The club is sensitive to tampering with tradition so McGuire said the proposed renovations will not disturb icons such as the ivy-covered outfield walls, the video-free scoreboard and the ballpark’s name.
While the ballpark’s name won’t go on the market, naming rights to the bleachers section might be sold, he said.
McGuire said the changes, which would add revenue and bring the park’s capacity to just short of 42,000, are needed for the Cubs to “survive in Wrigley Field” and compete with other major-league clubs.
Adding night games would be particularly beneficial in the spring and fall, when school is in session, he said.
“We average 5,000 to 6,000 more for night games in the spring than for day games.”
The Cubs need approval from the Commission on Chicago Landmarks to make the changes because the park is under consideration for landmark status. City Hall also must sign on because the original plan for night games was granted in a 15-year agreement that expires after next season.
Before granting permission, officials will monitor reaction at a series of public hearings expected in coming weeks. Because permission is needed, and because neighborhood consent is desired, McGuire said, meetings with city officials and community groups are being scheduled.
McGuire sounded an optimistic and lighthearted tone for the campaign ahead.
He told reporters he had briefed neighborhood representatives before Monday’s press conference. Their reaction?
“Somewhere between ringing endorsement and hostile objection,” McGuire quipped.
“We said if we ever won 13 home games in a row, we would have to go public with this,” he joked as he displayed artists’ renderings of bleachers raised by “10 or 11” rows nearest the foul poles to six rows in right-center and left-center fields; and remodeled box seats and brick wall between the dugouts to add up to 250 seats in three new rows behind home plate.
Political support seen
The Cubs hit their “lucky 13” when they swept the Minnesota Twins over the weekend on the playing field. Prospects for success on the political turf at City Hall, where the Cubs are hoping for a “lucky 15” in negotiating another 15-year agreement with increased night games, also appeared bright Monday.
Aldermen have considerable authority in determining whether projects in their neighborhoods win city approval.
Ald. Bernard Hansen, whose 44th Ward includes the ballpark, reacted favorably to the plans unveiled Monday. But he said he would prefer fewer night games: “I don’t think 30 would be a deal-breaker, but I would like to get it down a few games.”
Charlotte Newfeld, chairwoman of Citizens United for Baseball in Sunshine, a committee of the Lake View Citizens Council, questioned the need for more night games, but said, “this is something I think we will work out. The very fact we are talking about an incremental contract, like 15 years, is positive.”
Mayor Daley, who was out of the country Monday, has expressed the city’s willingness to consider more night games at Wrigley as part of a renovation-landmark deal with the Cubs.
Daley has stated publicly that he keeps an “open mind” toward Wrigley revamping that preserves the park’s historical character. The mayor had a positive reaction at a sneak preview earlier this year, McGuire said.
Team officials have revised earlier proposals, scaling back the number of seats and, according to one City Hall source, dropping consideration of jumbo televisions screens in the face of city officials’ opposition.
“I think it’s a lot better than where they started,” Hansen said of Monday’s presentation.
He praised the proposals’ inclusion of a new entrance to the bleachers and a “balcony” walkway outside the bleachers and above the sidewalks on Sheffield and Waveland avenues.
“We are asking the Cubs and their owners to make a long-term commitment to Chicago,” Hansen said. “I understand we have to give them some room for expansion so they can remain economically as close as possible to their competitors.”
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Ballpark’s rankings
McGuire said the Cubs are 15th or 16th among the 30 major-league teams in total attendance, 14th in gate receipts, 11th-highest in average ticket price and fifth or sixth in local broadcast revenues.
“We are committed to stay in Wrigley,” he said. Asked if the Cubs had a Plan B if Monday’s proposals weren’t accepted, he said, “This is our plan.”
The multi-purpose building along Clark Street would be connected to the ballpark, he said, and would include a parking garage, a year-round restaurant, added concession areas and restrooms and a Cubs’ Hall of Fame. The Cubs own the property, now occupied by a car wash and a fast-food restaurant.
McGuire said the proposed building was not far enough along for cost estimates. Bleacher renovation would cost about $7 million, including building pillars up from sidewalks outside current walls to support the added rows. There will be a restaurant behind tinted glass in the center-field bleacher area that now has juniper bushes. The new box seats would cost about $4 million, including tearing out and rebuilding the low brick wall behind home plate, he said. The club also will build a private lounge underneath the club box seating for the patrons of the new seats.
Asked if the bleacher construction would affect ballgame views from rooftop seats across the street, McGuire said, “Views from rooftops would not be affected much.”
To compensate, Hansen said, the city is considering allowing rooftop operators to raise their seating height several feet. McGuire said he had little concern about “rooftop people charging $100 a person. They are no longer a simple cottage industry.”
Ald. Hansen said 13 years of night games have not been the detriment his constituents feared, beginning with concerns about real estate values. “Property values have gone up, the businesses have increased, the liveliness of the neighborhood has increased,” he said. “Everything actually has gotten better.”
Thus far this year, the same can be said for the Cubs, enough so that no one is chuckling at an addendum on the negotiating table for night games: Administration sources said officials are willing to craft an agreement that would add a certain number of regular-season games after dark . . . with permission for more if the Cubs qualify for postseason play.