Wrigley rehab tests fans’ patience
Video board a hit, but restroom fiasco strikes bad chord
In their temporary digs across from rehabbing Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs front office personnel have dedicated a space that helps them show their corporate sponsors and luxury suite owners just what the promised land will look like.
Guests watch a video that details the ongoing renovation of the century-old ballpark and briefs them on how the team has gone about rebuilding a ballclub that has been one of Major League Baseball’s worst over the last five years.
They’re also shown a painstakingly detailed diorama — which Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts says cost about as much as his first home — of what the park and its surroundings will look like when the monumental project is completed.
The video, naturally, ends with the Cubs winning the World Series.
“There’s certainly an analogy between the reconstruction of the ball team and the reconstruction of the ballpark,” Ricketts told USA TODAY Sports. “Hopefully we’ll have a better ballpark and a better ball team very shortly.”
As the Cubs begin this season, fans are eager to see how the dust will settle at Wrigley Field, as Ricketts has set an ambitious goal of turning the team into a playoff contender while modernizing the iconic stadium.
The strategy on the field is easy enough to understand as the Cubs have built arguably the best farm system in baseball, acquired a marquee ace in Jon Lester via free agency and signed one of the game’s most highly regarded managers in Joe Maddon.
But in the early going of a project that is expected to last at least three more years, Cubs fans who are used to having their patience tested on the field are learning that their steely fortitude might be needed in the grandstands as well.
“It’s funny that the Cubs front office has been asking fans for patience,” remarked Bernie Smuda, who, like many long-suffering fans, wonders if the Cubs will break their nearly 107-year World Series title drought in his lifetime.
“What are Cubs fans, if not patient?”
The team had planned to have completed renovation of the bleachers, which are being extended by several feet and will feature new terraces, by the start of the season. But another tough Chicago winter and an unanticipated issue with a water main led to major delays.
The left- and center-field bleachers now are set to open May 11, and the right-field bleachers are expected to be ready in June.
On opening night, the team found itself being excoriated by fans on social media because of problems with the restrooms.
Three were out of commission because of construction, and two others went down temporarily during the game, leaving some fans enduring lines of 30 minutes or longer. Residents in the surrounding Wrigleyville neighborhood also complained after the first game of increased noise from the new sound system.
The Cubs, who defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 in their second game of the season Wednesday, brought in dozens of portable restrooms. When the construction is complete, women’s restroom capacity will increase more than 50%, with men’s facilities up by nearly 40%. The team also made adjustments to some speakers to try to alleviate the noise complaints.
“We underperformed on the bathroom situation,” Ricketts said.
On the flip side, he said fan feedback on the aesthetics and content of the video board had been overwhelmingly positive.
The Cubs have said the video board is an essential tool to improving the fan experience and, perhaps more important, generating the advertising revenue they need to remain competitive.
The Cubs say they’ll stay away from using the video board for between-inning entertainment, such as the ubiquitous kiss cam, that’s not directly related to base- ball or players on the roster.
On opening night, the video board was used to show video tributes between innings to Hall of Famer Ernie Banks as well as sponsored spots featuring baseball trivia and tidbits about Cubs players.
“Obviously, we want to do something entertaining between innings,” Ricketts said. “But we also have to be careful, respectful of the fans. They don’t want a lot of noise. They don’t want a lot of distraction.
“If it’s about the team, let’s do it. If it’s about baseball, let’s do it. If it’s something else, let’s just pass on it.”
From his second-floor office, Ricketts has a clear view of the west side of Wrigley, where construction workers are doing excavation to prepare for a 30,000square-foot clubhouse that will rest below a multiuse plaza. The clubhouse, which will be ready next season, will be the second biggest in baseball upon completion.
In and around the park, when the Cubs aren’t playing, the rattle of electric saws and heavy machinery is constant as workers hurry to complete the bleachers and restrooms on the main concourse. No construction work takes place during games.
For some fans, the chaos of the construction, particularly from the outside of the park, has been somewhat disorienting.
“I really can hardly get over the construction right now,” said Tim Bush, 37, who traveled from western Kentucky to attend Wednesday’s game. “When I’ve come here before, there’s a hometown sort of feeling of Wrigleyville. Now there’s steel beams sticking out everywhere.”
In the early stages of Wrigley’s rehab, some of the most significant work — the steel and concrete that have been replaced throughout the facility in the offseason — isn’t readily apparent.
That structural work, however, is crucial for planned enhancements to the upper deck and expansion and improvements to the luxury suites that are in the pipeline in the coming three to four years of the project.
“A lot of times we forget how much progress we’ve made,” Ricketts said. “In the end, it’s been 100 years since Wrigley Field was built. It’s been decades and decades since any substantial work has been done.
“We don’t like to let down our fans. But on the other hand, this is a 100-year project, and we have to do it the right way.”