NEWSLETTER
A rumor made the rounds for a couple hours last evening that Wrigley Field – as in, the entirety of it, not just the bleachers – might not be ready in time for Opening Night, and the Cubs were scrambling for a last minute Plan B involving U.S. Cellular Field.
If you didn’t see the rumor (I didn’t discuss it, because it didn’t quite sound right to me), you didn’t miss much. Cubs VP of Communications and Community Affairs Julian Green quickly said this to Carrie Muskat: “Even a goat would tell you this reaches an absolute new low for Wrigley rumors. All is proceeding well and we look forward to Opening Night at Wrigley Field.”
Be assured: with 10 days to go before Opening Night, even there was even a scintilla of a chance that the Cubs would not be able to play at Wrigley Field, Green isn’t making that statement with such confidence. And, if you needed any further confirmation, look no further than today’s announcement that Fall Out Boy would be performing at Wrigley before the Opening Night game.
Wrigley Field will be open, the Cubs will play the Cardinals there, and I will look longingly at the uncompleted bleachers from somewhere in the upper deck.
All that said, there may be another delay to the timeline, according to team Chairman Tom Ricketts, who said at a luncheon yesterday that the renovation may require an additional (fifth) offseason now (Sun-Times). That shouldn’t delay any of the major fan amenities or player amenities, but it could mean things like the press box and hotel, according to the Sun-Times, take a year longer.
If you’ve followed the renovation process closely, you may vaguely recall that the plan was originally for a five-year plan, but, when the Cubs lost a year thanks to the wrangling with the City, neighborhood, and rooftops, they worked out a way to complete things in four years (so that the original completion date was in place). Now, if a year is tacked on to the end of the plan, it would actually look more like the original five-year plan … but a year later because of the original delay. Make sense?
In any case, back to the matter at hand: getting Wrigley in shape for Opening Night, and getting those bleachers ready by May 11 (left and center fields) and by June (right field).
The latest visuals from The Friendly Confines (and those two excellent Twitter accounts have many more pictures):
10 days left, starting to look more and more like it needs to #WrigleyField #OpeningNight #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/Oj28YEDKo6
— Wrigley Renovations (@WrigleyRenovate) March 26, 2015
https://twitter.com/WrigleyBlog/status/581114985448882176
Renovation view from the @Wrigleyview rooftop today #WrigleyField #WrigleyRenovations #cubs #LetsGo pic.twitter.com/nnHBW6EzOQ
— Wrigley Renovations (@WrigleyRenovate) March 26, 2015
Left Field bleacher and Jumbotron work this morning #WrigleyRenovations #WrigleyField #Cubs pic.twitter.com/nXMp7I9qGO
— Wrigley Renovations (@WrigleyRenovate) March 26, 2015
https://twitter.com/WrigleyBlog/status/580491306583113729
Right Field is coming along nicely #WrigleyRenovations #WrigleyField #Cubs pic.twitter.com/rM9uT3txwD
— Wrigley Renovations (@WrigleyRenovate) March 26, 2015
Waveland Ave #WrigleyRenovations #WrigleyField #Cubs pic.twitter.com/ALtdOu3Nui
— Wrigley Renovations (@WrigleyRenovate) March 25, 2015
