There was some sour cynicism at the Cubs convention. The Ricketts family touted the new ball park renovations to such an extreme, that one fan asked whether the owners had any plans to rebuild the ball club.
The hype surrounding the family's retreat from public funding for their private property was only masked by the rapid fire improvements and architect renderings. The $300 million project does not seem to make any movement on building a better team for the fans; but merely attempts to bring more revenue from fans to the team bank account.
The Cubs will gut and rebuild the clubhouse under the lower deck, with a concealed batting cage behind an expanded dugout. The idea is to enlarge the Cubs locker room, add more space for a weight and training room, and other amenities. Jed Hoyer called the clubhouse "AA." For some fans, the idea of pampering the players more does not equate to better performance on the field.
The Cubs also said the entire rebuild would be contingent on the city relaxing some of the landmark restrictions. Well, that is not going to happen. The Cubs have no leverage to change the landmark restrictions, or add new burdens on the residents of the neighborhood. The Cubs want more night games, more "other" events without clearance from the city or neighborhood. The gist is that the Ricketts family deems Wrigley as an entertainment venue, and they want to run a 24/7, 365 day per year entertainment complex. The renovation plan includes more patios, more restaurants and more skyboxes, which means more opportunity to keep the gates open during the off-season.
The Cubs also want unlimited signage in and outside the park. The Cubs want to add another LED screen like the RF one on the LF catwalk area. Purists hated the Fenway mini-wall in RF. The Cubs were also looking to add more signage, including a jumbotron (which could only truly mean replacing the manual scoreboard). A Cubs spokesman said the electronic scoreboard met with fan favor "so long as it did not interfere with the historic scoreboard." All the signage does is add revenue to the club. It fact, it could turn into a billboard palace like some Class AA venues.
The artist sketches appear to literally raise the upper deck roof to create a higher upper deck, with a "party patio" concession area behind it. I don't know what the fascination of Tom Ricketts to party patios, but Wrigley will have them everywhere. Which is strange, since the upper deck ones won't have a view to the playing field. A skeptic would call that normal, if the baseball team is merely secondary to the venue itself. The raised upper deck would slide in a new set of luxury boxes, which could be a hard sell. But the new renovation won't change the obstructed seats in the lower level grandstands, because Cub management said it wanted to "keep the historic charm and the overhang of the upper deck" so the support posts must stay. It is also an indirect means to have fans buy more expensive, non-obstructed seats.
With the huge plans to add a 175 room hotel in a commercial complex across the street, the Cubs are more focused on real estate development and revenue enhancement than baseball operations. Some would say that without new revenue sources, the Cubs could not be competitive in present or the future. The reply is, "at what real cost?"
A major reason people came to Wrigley Field was that it was stepping back into time. To a time before night games; a place where one's grandparents went to see Hall of Fame players, including legends like Babe Ruth. The manual scoreboard, ivy brick walls, and neighborhood views were unique in baseball, which is now filled with theme park industrial designs like in Miami and Houston. There is a fine line to rehabbing a landmark and ruining the place.
The Ricketts family continually told fans "we are not running a museum." But baseball is all about memories and times long gone. The Cubs have sold tradition for generations. The landmark status shows that the public wants Wrigley to be preserved and not perverted into an entertainment theme park.
The rebuilding proposals may be part of a bait and switch since the actual baseball rebuilding process has stalled; ESPN projects the Cubs being competitive in 2015. That is when the young Class A players like Soler and Almora would debut with the Cubs. The five year physical construction plans are to keep the fans interested until 2016. That is going to be a hard sell to maintain.
