Wrigley Re-deux
Change is coming to Chicago's venerable Wrigley Field. The Cubs will still play baseball
in the Friendly Confines, but under new ownership. Tickets for the 2010 season went on sale last Friday, and members of the Ricketts family, the new owners, were on hand to greet fans. For those of you reading from overseas, or not too familiar with sport of baseball, the Chicago Cubs have been playing at Wrigley since 1916, two years after the ballpark was constructed, which makes it the second oldest, major league stadium in the country. The Cubs haven't won a championship in 101 years, but that hasn't stopped the crowds from pouring into the old ball park. The place is as popular as any other major attraction in the city, often filling its 41,000 seats to capacity.
facade /Images & Artwork: designslinger]
The Ricketts are doing some updating at Wrigley and it will be interesting to see what
happens once all the hideous wire fencing and 1960s era pre-fab concrete panels are removed from the Addison and Clark Street facades. Perhaps the redo will add to the charm found in the remaining original brick walls with their interior ivy covering. Hopefully they won't remove all the ugliness and replace it with more ugly.
The nostalgia factor also plays a large part in Wrigley's success. With mega stadiums
littering the landscape, the ball park takes you back to a time when your great-great-grandfather sat in the same arena, ate a hot dog, had a beer and popcorn and watched the score board changed by a guy who occasionally peeked out from behind the large openings that held the giant numbers. Your experience would be the same today, including scores changed by hand, not electronics. And what about the Wrigley name? The chewing gum family hasn't owned the team for decades, but the Wrigley moniker has remained. Naming rights bring in lots of revenue, and after having paid over $800 million for the team the Ricketts may be looking for some cash, though they've said there will be no name change.
Once the snow melts, and the construction debris has been cleared in preparation for
opening day on April 12th, we'll be back to take some pics and see if the improvements improved anything.
Posted by designslinger at 2/23/2010 2:20 AM 
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: Wrigley Field Chicago Cubs sports arenas baseball parks
Categories: Architecture, History, Preservation
Tags: Wrigley Field Chicago Cubs sports arenas baseball parks
Thanks so much for showing us this little jewel. Yes it is strange that people understand baseball abroad, specially in Europe. I do but because I've visited Cuba quite often and learned about this sport.
Glad you enjoyed it. Especially from a European friend.
I've always been torn by the exterior appearance of Wrigley. There's a utilitarian charm in the frumpy concrete slabs and other hack-smack tweaks made to the ball park's exterior through the years. It demonstrates a local neighborhood down-to-earth attitude.
But at the same time, it looks a little boring and sloppy. My least favorite "renovation" was the utterly unaesthetic row of window treatments added about 8 years ago below the red marquee. It shows a complete lack of regard for any sort of design considerations and thus chokes from lack of life.
I fear the Ricketts will display a similar lack of basic design considerations when "renovating". Vanilla is not a flavor suited to Wrigley Field. They should not be afraid to inject some strong, yet tasteful architectural decisions.
Guess we'll know in a few weeks. At least this redo. Have a feeling there may be more to come down the road.
What's with the "Bud Light" sponsored bleachers? Shouldn't it be "Old Style" beer? I remember when that was all they served out in the bleacher seats.
Thanks, Kelvin
Maybe Bud paid for the extension of the bleachers which apparently happened a few years ago. Or Old Style went out of style!
That's pretty interesting... That's great, I never thought about Wrigley Re-deux like that before.
Glad it peaked your interest, and thanks for the comment and the visit.