Cubs Have Not Filed For Permits To Begin Wrigley Renovations Yet
By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 28, 2013 4:00PM
Remember a few months back when Cubs chairman Tom Ricketts said he wanted to start the Wrigley Field renovation project shortly after the final out was recorded at Wrigley Field this season? Well, it looks like the ballclub dropped the ball there.
The Tribune reports the Cubs have yet to file for any of the city permits required to start the renovation process and likely won't as the team is still wrangling over details of the plan approved by City Council in July. A source told the Trib Ricketts still wants a guarantee from rooftop club owners they won't sue if the planned Jumbotron in left field and a 650-foot static sign in right field obstruct views from the rooftops. If they can clear that up, the right-field sign could go up immediately. Negotiatons over a proposed party deck that would hang over Sheffield Avenue haven't gotten started, either. The Cubs floated that idea as a compromise over the sight line issue in right field and, while rooftop owners approve, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) opposes the idea, citing public safety concerns.
Negotiations over the Wrigley Field renovation plan, spurred by Tunney's numerous lines in the sand throughout the process, didn't help matters as talks and amendments to the project dragged on until final City Council approval. Still, Wrigleyville Rooftops Association spokesman Ryan McLaughlin said "there is nothing stopping the owners of one of the most valuable teams in baseball from fixing the dugouts, the bathrooms or the multitude of improvements that are long overdue."
"Let's be clear — those aspects of renovation have nothing to do with the issue between the Cubs and rooftops" McLaughlin added. "For a team that set deadlines, their silence has been deafening when it comes to their renovation plans."