[UPDATE] Cubs Chuck Fans' Pricey Stadium Pavers During Renovation
By Jim Bochnowski in News on May 20, 2015 5:25PM
[Update below] Some expensive Cubs fan-personalized pavers appear to have made their way from Wrigley Field's construction site to a downstate dump.
Remember those pavers? Back in 2006, the Cubs started a program in which individuals could spend entirely too much money to etch their name forever on a brick surrounding the stadium. Some of the bricks were touching, some were darkly hilarious, but they all were tributes to the fans who put up with a team that hasn't always been competitive.
Which makes it all the stranger that, during the recent renovations of Wrigley Field, the Cubs seem to have torn up some of these mementos and thrown them away. As the Pontiac Daily Leader reports, several of these bricks have been found in a downstate landfill.
Back before the renovations even started, a Huffington Post blogger questioned the Cubs about what would happen to the bricks as construction began. Representatives repeatedly told him they didn't know.
Cubs representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Chicagoist Wednesday morning.
This is all the stranger because even before the season began, a Cubs spokesman assured fans that their bricks would stay intact outside the stadium, although they would be moved.
According to the Cubs' official statement, given to reporters at a March press conference:
While some Wrigley Field personalized pavers have already been removed on the ongoing construction, there are also some that have remained in the same location and will be accessible during the 2015 season. It was determined the best long-term solution and location for the pavers is outside the Budweiser Bleachers on Sheffield and Waveland. Our plan is to replace and relocate all personalized pavers following the 2015 season. We anticipate the new pavers will be in place by Opening Day 2016. The original pavers will not be available for distribution and we will communicate specific locations once the design lays are finalized with those personalized pavers.
This wouldn't be the first time the Cubs took a gift from a fan and threw it in the garbage. This particular metaphor for how the beloved team has treated its die-hard fans over the past century is probably a bit too on the nose for some.
[UPDATE 1:15 p.m.] According to an e-mail Cubs officials sent to the Tribune on Tuesday night, "As we communicated to paver owners in March, due to the Wrigley Field construction schedule, it was required we remove some of the original pavers. It was also apparent that many, if not all of the pavers, would be damaged during the removal process, which is why we did not make them available to owners and committed to providing new personalized pavers."
The Cubs are also investigating how, exactly, the bricks made their way to a landfill downstate. According to a statement from Republic Services, the company responsible for the disposal of the bricks:
"Today, we learned that an unknown number of pavers made it outside the chain of supervision. We are taking the sensitivity of this unfortunate incident very seriously, and we have initiated an internal review."