If you want to know where things stand on the Wrigley Field renovation, check these recent updates. Since getting approval this Summer from the Landmarks Commission for the revised renovation plan, the Chicago Cubs have consistently said, “Yes, we are proceeding in earnest with the renovation after the season.” We are in a trust-but-verify situation, however, after multiple years of near starts and hang-ups.
So, every sign I see that work will actually begin after the season is, to me, worth noting.
The latest comes from the Tribune, reporting that a small number of season ticket holders have been notified that they will possibly have to relocate because of forthcoming work on the press box, as part of the renovation. The specific work? Construction of a control room for the planned video scoreboards (i.e., the JumboTron in left, and the smaller board in right).
While sometimes you do have to plan things in advance and make decisions that may not actually come to fruition, but, let’s be clear on this: the Cubs have taken the affirmative step of notifying some season ticket holders of a possible move because they are planning to construct a new control room area in the press box, which will control the video boards the Cubs have said they plan to have up for the 2015 season.
In other words, this is another significant precursor to actual work beginning. The season ends in just over two weeks, and we will quickly see what’s what. When those shovels enter the ground on the triangle property to the west of the ballpark –Â the digging that will be necessary to build the new clubhouse and construct the plaza – and the work on the outfield walls begins (those are the first two planned significant renovation steps), that’s when I’ll do my happy dance and proclaim that the actual renovation of Wrigley Field has started.