Cubs Moving Street Fair from Sheffield to Parking Lot
During the November Allstate Wrigleyville Classic football game between Illinois and Northwestern, the Cubs received permission to shut down a block-long stretch of Sheffield and turned it into a street fair, with concessions, face painting and a football toss, among other activities.
The fair drew in so much revenue that the Cubs, who are already in violation of Major League Baseball's debt service rules, wanted to do it again for three series this season, starting with this weekend's visit against the New York Yankees. Homeowners and business owners around the Friendly Confines weren't too happy to hear those plans and objected. Now the street fair will be squeezed into the Cubs-owned parking lot on Clark Street on the west side of the ballpark. That's the same parking lot that already strains to hold employee and player parking, and television production trucks.
Under a compromise reached between the ballclub, residents and merchants, the street fair will also end at 8 p.m. every night for the Yankees series and the Cubs' series against the White Sox July 1-3 and the St. Louis Cardinals Aug. 19-21. Given the way the Cubs attendance has gone this season, those are also nine games in which the opposing team's fanbase may outnumber that of the Cubs, and nine games in which public transportation is highly recommended.
