City Landmarks Commission Approves Cubs Request To Add More Seats
By Chuck Sudo in News on Oct 5, 2012 2:00PM
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks approved a proposal by the Chicago Cubs to add 56 seats behind home plate during their meeting Thursday. In the process the Commission also approved another proposal by the Cubs that could bring football back to the Friendly Confines for the first time since 2010.
The Commission granted the Cubs permission to reconfigure a 12-foot section of the wall along the third base line so that it could be moved by forklift. That extra space would conceivably be enough for a football field with two end zones to be laid out. Readers will remember Illinois and Northwestern could only run offensive plays to the west end zone when the two teams played Wrigley two years ago out of concerns the east end zone was too close to the outfield wall. The game drew over 41,000 fans and carnival-like street fair around the ballpark for that game is something the Cubs have been trying to repeat since.
Cubs vice president of community affairs and general counsel Michael Lufrano told Crain’s a movable wall gives them the flexibility to begin reaching out to colleges interested in playing a football game at Wrigley. “We’re thinking ahead,” he said.
The 56 new seats behind home plate next season are expected to generate an extra $1 million in revenue for the Cubs.