Wrigley Scoreboard/Bleachers





As we all know, the Chicago Cubs are currently in the process of renovating and expanding the outfield bleachers in Wrigley Field. The plan, due to be completed by opening day 2006, calls for 1,800 new bleacher seats, a new lounge in centerfield where the juniper bushes used to reside, new bathrooms and concession stands and increased wheel chair accessibility. The no-beer family section will be moved to the general seating area, and 253 bleacher box seats (seats with backs) will also be added by the foul poles, away from the jovial mosh-pit that is the bleacher experience at the Friendly Confines.

RF foul pole view-Jan. '06 The long standing bleacher entrance, gate N, will also be changed. It is no secret that many Cubs fans fear change as much as Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World. Messing with any Cubs tradition, especially the icon of American sports that is Wrigley Field is always a touchy subject; so, I decided to go down to Wrigley and take a closer look for myself and see how things were going. Up until the recent annual Cubs Convention, the organization had said very little about the proceedings at 1060 W. Addison, and I was getting curious.

Approaching Wrigley on the Red Line from the north, it appears as if nothing has changed at all on the old ball park. However, upon pulling into the Addison St. station, an eyesore of a skeleton of maroon steel and green mesh fencing reveals itself to you and greets you like a punch in the face. What used to be an unbreakable symbol of Chicago and the sport of baseball stands almost unrecognizable from certain view points.

Bleacher Work-Jan. '06 Some good news for pin striped purists is that the scoreboard and the seats directly below it will remain unchanged. The Turner Construction Company is handling the renovations. The company seems to have a good sense of the importance of history and tradition to Cubs fans. The company plans on reusing as many of the old bricks as possible in the rebuilding process. The superintendent of the project, Dave Huls, has some experience in giving face lifts to shrines of the sporting world, having worked on the renovations at Lambeau Field. The unique brick wall that support the stadium's signature ivy will also remain intact.

The scope and scale of the job is quite impressive, almost intimidating. A beast of a steel frame stands strong but seems to change by the minute. The work at the site is strenuous and constant. The crash of steel, the hard hum of the diesel engine, the shouts of the workers straining to be heard over the din of all of the action; these noises owned the air as I circled the field. Not only were these men playing with massive steel hoisting machines, they were doing it at perhaps the greatest job site in the city of Chicago. I have to admit, I was a little jealous. It looked like fun; wouldn't you want a chance to put your thumb print on the next 100 years of history at Wrigley Field? For just a second, I wondered if these men at work would have the time to talk to an odd punk like myself.

My concerns were alleviated when I approached the site and introduced myself to Doug Pashuta and Walt Lynch, two of the able construction workers on the job. Without flinching, both Mr. Pashuta and Mr. Lynch said that the project was still on schedule and the seats should be ready by opening day. They both expressed appreciation for their unique gig, and also for a mild winter (so far). They are on pace to have all of the concrete poured shortly, and both men said that there is still no reason to be concerned about the new seats availability for opening day.

When I asked Mr. Pashuta if his job gave him a sense of civic (or Cubby) pride, he did not hesitate to smile and tell me that he couldn't wait to sit in one of the seats that he helped make. (Talk about an interesting vantage point to watch a game, try the seat that you built!) Upon closer inspection, I found that it is not just a Turner Construction Company policy to respect the traditions of the Cubs, but a belief shared by many of the men wearing the hard hats as well.

When I got a sense of how big the new bleachers will be, another questioned popped into my mind for Mr. Pashuta and Mr. Lynch --

'So, have you guys received any death threats yet from any of those dudes who run around Waveland Avenue catching batting practice homerun balls -- the Ball Hawks?'

With a smile and a chuckle, both Doug and Walt assured me that nothing like that had gone on, and that their relationship with neighborhood residents had been pleasant, even though the crew often worked early in the morning and on weekends. They did tell me, however, that most of the traffic around the site came from all of the curious wieners walking around with digital cameras checking out their work in progress (I then had a smile and a chuckle of my own.)

Happy, but not completely satisfied, I shook the hands of the two gentlemen and headed off. It seemed like these boys had things under control, but I decided to do a little more investigative reporting and went to check on my new friends story at a place where I felt like construction workers might be a little more honest -- the nearest bar.

Enter Murphy's Bleachers -- the closest restaurant/bar to the job site; a place where I figured I might be able to dig up some dirt. Murphy's was a ghost town compared to its appearance on any game day. When I sat down at the bar, I composed 33% of the afternoon clientele. The sparse crowd gave me a chance to pick the brain of Kate Walker, a 27 year old barkeep living in Roscoe Village and as knowledgeable a Cubs fan as a person could hope to meet.

When I asked Ms. Walker to confirm the story of Mr. Pashuta and Mr. Lynch, she paused and took a deep breath. While Ms. Walker said that she had no reason to believe that the project would not be done by opening day, she did tell me an interesting story. Murphy's has an old fashioned sign counting down the days until opening day hanging over the door frame in the bar's main room. Despite the job still technically being on schedule, Ms. Walker told me the story of one particular lunch break where the crew looked up and saw the sign reading 'only 91 days to opening day.' To a man, the crew sighed, cursed and cringed in agony; there is no doubt that a mountain of work remains to be done in a short time. I guess that saying the job will be done by April 7th is a little easier to swallow than seeing the exact number of days remaining on the project.

While this will be a stressful winter on the corner of Waveland and Sheffield, I don't believe this little story of stress is any reason to believe that the work at Wrigley will not be done on opening day. A construction worker worried about a deadline is as common as a Cubs reliever blowing a lead.

Another interesting story Ms. Walker told me could have been titled the last supper of the Ball Hawks. Apparently many of these dedicated Cubs fans got together at Murphy's on the day that construction began. The Ball Hawks toasted an end of an era and cried in their beers together; I guess it was quiet a sight. What effect the expansion will have on the free wheeling atmosphere outside of Wrigley on game days is not yet known, but less and less balls will leave the ball park, and that fact is a crushing blow to a loyal (if not fanatic) sect of Cubs fans. Wrigley Field's home run Ball Hawks are taking the changes as well as they can, but there is no doubt that these renovations are a crushing blow to their way of life and a long standing fan tradition.

In more ways than one, life at Wrigley Field is upside down right now. There is a lot of work to be done in a short amount of time and all we have to go on is the word of the Chicago Cubs and of the guys doing the work. Wrigley field will have a new face; the question is -- will it be ready to smile on time? Every source I've heard from says the project will be done on time; I am just hoping that this doesn't turn into another ‘wait until next year' situation for the Chicago Cubs.

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