Say Yes To Wrigley Landmark Status Proposal
Timothy Yeo - CubsTalk.com

March 11, 2003 at 4:31pm ET

Chicago is well-known as the Windy City. The cold weather is why tourists continue to use the nickname while strolling down Michigan Avenue, but the name originated because of the city's historically hard-nosed politicians.

The Bears and White Sox have threatened to leave town over the city's dirty politics, but the Cubs have remained relatively friendly neighbors. This hospitality has paid off with a reasonable compromise by the Chicago Department of Planning and Development over a proposal to designate Wrigley Field with landmark status.

Cubs president Andy MacPhail is not happy about the proposal. "In the past 20 years, Wrigley Field has been modernized through the addition of mezzanine suites, relocation of the press box, the addition of food courts and a Stadium Club restaurant and the introduction of night games. Each of these changes improved baseball operations without changing the fundamental architectural characteristics of Wrigley Field. Under the proposed ordinance, each of these changes would be subject to a political process that would either delay or deny us the necessary flexibility to make needed improvements," said MacPhail in a press release.

Well, MacPhail would be right if the entire ballpark is covered by the ordinance. However, the proposal has been altered to include certain significant features of Wrigley, such as the ivy, the scoreboard, the outer walls, and the ballpark's general configuration. The altered proposal would also ensure that the view from home plate to the neighborhood remains.

MacPhail claims that adding mezzanine suites, food courts, and the Stadium Club would have been tougher if the current proposal were in effect twenty years ago. However, none of Wrigley's significant features have been affected by those additions.

Plus, the current proposed bleacher expansion will not be affected by the new proposal. The general configuration of the ballpark is still kept - adding a few rows to the bleachers will not radically change the arrangement of Wrigley Field. The number of bleacher seats that the Cubs want to add has been reduced through rounds of compromises with neighborhood representatives, so the view from home plate to the neighborhood will still be there.

The proposal does a great job in ensuring that Wrigley Field will look more or less the same for the next generation. With the current laws, the Tribune Company could generate revenue with ads behind home plate on the upper deck's overhang, put up a Jumbotron, tear down the ivy and put ads on the outfield wall. Most fans trust that they won't do this, since they've managed to cherish the Wrigley tradition, but the new proposal for landmark status virtually guarantees that this won't happen. For them to do it would break the law.

Landmark status will ensure that Wrigley Field is the home of the Chicago Cubs for years to come. The Cubs will have the same flexibility they previously held when it comes to renovating the stadium. The team remains capable of economically competing with the newer stadiums around baseball, an important benefit because the entire National League Central, minus the Cubs, will have new stadiums when the Cardinals finish construction on their new home.

Meanwhile, Wrigley Field will remain relatively unchanged. Purists cherish the fact that the Wrigley experience today is very similar to the experience fifty years ago. This tradition will continue because the landmark status proposal, if passed, ensures that unique features of the ballpark, such as the ivy and the scoreboard, will remain in the Mecca of baseball.

Have a comment or opinion? E-mail Tim at tim@cubstalk.com

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