Cubs Will Shell Out $1M For New Security Cameras In Wrigleyville

By Stephen Gossett in News on May 24, 2017 2:50PM

Photo: Tyler LaRiviere

Looking to beef up security surveillance to stem safety concerns around the ballpark, the Chicago Cubs will donate $1 million for some 30 cameras to be installed mostly near Wrigley Field.

The timing of the grant's approval to OMEC was striking: a City Council committee gave the OK on Tuesday—just a day after the apparent suicide terror bombing in Manchester that killed 22 people and injured more than 50 more. But the timing was purely coincidental. Plans had been in motion for several months, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said, according to the Sun-Times.

At a reported $30,000 a pop, the cameras will primarily be clustered around the stadium, but the range will spread as far as Montrose, Belmont and Lake Shore Drive, Tunney said, according to the Tribune.

The proposal goes in front of a busy City Council agenda on Wednesday. It would take up to six months for the cameras to be installed.

The Cubs and the city ratcheted up security presence for Opening Day this year, back in March, amid fears of rising crime on Wrigleyville and Lakeview.

Tunney on Tuesday also renewed his opposition to closing down stretches of Clark and Addison, near Wrigley, on home games—a measure that the Cubs have been angling for.