Wrigley Renovation Thread

[Guest]

If Ricketts had the slightest intention of ever moving the team and an ounce of sense, he would have had serious exploratory talks with whatever suburbs would talk to him and kept that going while he went to the city to try to convince them to fund the renovations three years ago.

 

Since he didn't, and the best case he had was "Please? You did it for other people. Come on, be cool," we can safely assume that he knows it's not really a viable option and his bluff would be called quickly and embarrassingly if he did more than vaguely hint at the prospect.

Exactly. Any discussion of it by anyone afiliated with the Ricketts/Cubs is a bad joke. I assume the websites who peddle the nonsense are just drumming up business.

[Guest]

If Ricketts had the slightest intention of ever moving the team and an ounce of sense, he would have had serious exploratory talks with whatever suburbs would talk to him and kept that going while he went to the city to try to convince them to fund the renovations three years ago.

 

Since he didn't, and the best case he had was "Please? You did it for other people. Come on, be cool," we can safely assume that he knows it's not really a viable option and his bluff would be called quickly and embarrassingly if he did more than vaguely hint at the prospect.

 

Except that if this gets shot down, that's another method of paying for the renovations that gets crossed off the list and it would make perfect sense that at that point he'd be more open to serious discussions for a new stadium elsewhere.

 

I don't really doubt that if their hand was forced, they'd move. I just don't think their hand is going to get forced anymore.

[Guest]

"I feel like we're a viable option," Stephens said. "When this started a few weeks ago, we were a snowball in a very warm place. Today, it's getting a little cooler."

 

Stephens said the village could move the Cubs to land at the southwest corner of Interstate 294 and Balmoral Avenue and arrange public financing that may generate modest revenue for Rosemont in the short run but substantial returns decades later.

 

"Would we look at that?" he said of publicly financing a Cubs stadium in Rosemont. "Hell, yeah. How do we not?"

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-suburbs-cubs-20130502,0,7367666.story

 

If Rosemont comes up short, Matt Frank, Schaumburg's assistant director of community development and a "big Cubs fan," said the village would welcome an overture from the Cubs.

 

Schaumburg's minor league team, the Schaumburg Boomers, play in a Wrigley Field-inspired stadium. Frank said the village-owned 60 acres near that park could suit the Cubs.

 

"We'd be excited to see if we could work something out," Frank said of a Wrigley Field 26 miles northwest of the current icon. "Maybe we can make magic happen there."

 

Naperville spokeswoman Linda LaCloche said the city routinely fields inquiries from companies interested in locating there and "would take the Cubs seriously" if the team called.

 

"We're already a destination point," she said. "We'd tell the Cubs you could add yourself to that."

 

There's no shortage of interested suitors.

[RynoRules]

The proposed Rosemont site was as close to the Blue line as Wrigley is to the Ravenswood Metra station.

 

 

That's a short bus or shuttle ride on roads that are far better equipped to handle traffic than the area around Wrigley. Plus parking would be easier and likely much cheaper. Moreover, until he last couple of years, walk-up traffic wasn't much of an issue because all of the games were sold-out or nearly sold-out in advance. With more night-games coming, the suburban dwelling business-person who works in the Loop becomes an even more likely customer, and he/she will be very happy to take the blue line (park in the Kiss n Ride lot) or their car to Rosemont rather than be cornered in Wrigleyville. EDIT: This also applies to folks work and live in the 'burbs, many of whom stay away rather than fight the horrendous reverse commute to get to Wrigley for a 7:05 start. These two demos have tons of purchasing power, particularly relative to the Millenials who live in the apartments immedaitely around Wrigley.

 

The likelihood of the Cubs moving is slim in my estimation, but that doesn't mean it isn't plausible or viable.

 

So the plan is to shuttle thousands of people down Mannheim or a lesser trafficked road? That's expensive, time consuming, and impractical.

 

As I mentioned when this first came about, because of the volume of people converging on the stadium, the only people who actually have a shorter transit time to Rosemont are those immediately west and southwest of O'Hare. Everyone in the city, the northern, northwest, and southern suburbs would all be looking at similar or longer times to get to the park.

 

Have you been to Wrigley lately (last ten years)? They are already shuttling people from remote parking lots that are more than a mile away, and doing it on Irving Park, Addison and Belmont. That's teh very definition of impractical and expensive.

 

Next, you are dead-wrong if you truly believe it takes approx the same time to get to Rosemont from the North and NW burbs as it does to get to Wrigley from the same places. Its simply not true - the distance and time-spent are far shorter to Rosemont.

 

Finally, if by "south" you mean folks (like me) who live due-West of the city (most everyone farther south than the western burbs are Sox fans, and even the western burbs themselves tend to be split pretty evenly in that regard), headed up 294 to get to O'Hare/Rosemont is almost always an easy drive, regardless of the time of the day.

 

Your arguments simply don't hold water here.

[RynoRules]

"I feel like we're a viable option," Stephens said. "When this started a few weeks ago, we were a snowball in a very warm place. Today, it's getting a little cooler."

 

Stephens said the village could move the Cubs to land at the southwest corner of Interstate 294 and Balmoral Avenue and arrange public financing that may generate modest revenue for Rosemont in the short run but substantial returns decades later.

 

"Would we look at that?" he said of publicly financing a Cubs stadium in Rosemont. "Hell, yeah. How do we not?"

 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-suburbs-cubs-20130502,0,7367666.story

 

If Rosemont comes up short, Matt Frank, Schaumburg's assistant director of community development and a "big Cubs fan," said the village would welcome an overture from the Cubs.

 

Schaumburg's minor league team, the Schaumburg Boomers, play in a Wrigley Field-inspired stadium. Frank said the village-owned 60 acres near that park could suit the Cubs.

 

"We'd be excited to see if we could work something out," Frank said of a Wrigley Field 26 miles northwest of the current icon. "Maybe we can make magic happen there."

 

Naperville spokeswoman Linda LaCloche said the city routinely fields inquiries from companies interested in locating there and "would take the Cubs seriously" if the team called.

 

"We're already a destination point," she said. "We'd tell the Cubs you could add yourself to that."

 

There's no shortage of interested suitors.

 

If it came down to it, there is absolutely no way they'd move to Schaumburg (the site is near only the Elign-O'Hare, which is routinely backed-up all the way to 290/53, which is also routinely backed-up. Plus there is literally nothing around there except crappy townhouses and a shitty / trashy bunch of strip malls on Lake St) or Naperville (way too far / Sox country).

Edited May 2, 2013 by RynoRules

[SouthSideRyan]

Again we're back on the look how convenient Rosemont is guys!!??

[Guest]

The volume of people relying on the DeVry shuttle or similar service pales in comparison to the volume of people from the city looking to take public transport to a Cubs game.

 

And yes, if you're coming from the Northwest suburbs, where I live actually, travelling to a 7:00 game is going to be very similar in time to get to a Wrigley parking spot as it will be to park near the Rosemont stadium. Any difference currently would be eaten up by the tens of thousands of extra people trying to get to that spot if a stadium there were realized.

 

There's reasons why a Rosemont plan could eventually make sense. Convenience is absolutely not one of them. It would have to work in spite of lowered accessibility(and therefore attendance), not because of the location's convenience.

[Guest]

Again we're back on the look how convenient Rosemont is guys!!??

 

People from the suburbs are going to say it is, people from the city are going to say it isn't. I'm from Skokie, so as far as convenience goes, I'm like MEH.

 

In terms of everything else, I want a renovated Wrigley...I just wouldn't stop going to games if they did move.

[RynoRules]

The volume of people relying on the DeVry shuttle or similar service pales in comparison to the volume of people from the city looking to take public transport to a Cubs game.

 

And yes, if you're coming from the Northwest suburbs, where I live actually, travelling to a 7:00 game is going to be very similar in time to get to a Wrigley parking spot as it will be to park near the Rosemont stadium. Any difference currently would be eaten up by the tens of thousands of extra people trying to get to that spot if a stadium there were realized.

 

There's reasons why a Rosemont plan could eventually make sense. Convenience is absolutely not one of them. It would have to work in spite of lowered accessibility(and therefore attendance), not because of the location's convenience.

 

Where in the NW burbs do you live, McHenry Cnty?

[Hairyducked Idiot]

There's no shortage of interested suitors.

 

 

There's a shortage of viable ones. Until a realistically placed suburb starts waving around a blank check from a bond issue for a new stadium.

[Guest]

There's no shortage of interested suitors.

 

 

There's a shortage of viable ones. Until a realistically placed suburb starts waving around a blank check from a bond issue for a new stadium.

 

Rosemont has warts but it isn't really unrealistic.

 

And, while it's clearly nothing concrete, the mayor at least publicly alluded to a willingness to explore public funding.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Rosemont has a $35 million/year annual budget. I'm not expert in city budgeting (though I'm wikigoogling as fast as I can), but a building project 25x that seems out of their reach.

[Guest]

Rosemont has a $35 million/year annual budget. I'm not expert in city budgeting (though I'm wikigoogling as fast as I can), but a building project 25x that seems out of their reach.

 

I don't really think it needs to be 100% publicly financed to make more financial sense than a Wrigley renovation without public funding or new revenue streams.

[Hairyducked Idiot]

Rosemont has a $35 million/year annual budget. I'm not expert in city budgeting (though I'm wikigoogling as fast as I can), but a building project 25x that seems out of their reach.

 

I don't really think it needs to be 100% publicly financed to make more financial sense than a Wrigley renovation without public funding or new revenue streams.

 

I don't think it makes more sense than a Wrigley renovation even with full public funding. It's just the frustration of getting worked over by the city of Chicago bubbling over. But there's no way it makes sense without full public funding, or even close.

[Backtobanks]

The City and rooftops are overplaying their hands here. They need the Cubs a helluva lot more than the Cubs need them. The team would make a ton of cash in Rosemont, which people forget is adjacent to O'Hare and is surrounded by hotels, restaurants, high and medium end office parks. Plus it's been highly redeveloped to the east of 294 and looks really good.

 

The team is making a ton of cash in Chicago. Again, no way the Cubs move because the mayor, the city council, and the neighboring community (including land baron Ricketts) won't let it happen because of the financial devestation it would cause to everyone involved.

[Guest]

Rosemont has a $35 million/year annual budget. I'm not expert in city budgeting (though I'm wikigoogling as fast as I can), but a building project 25x that seems out of their reach.

 

I don't really think it needs to be 100% publicly financed to make more financial sense than a Wrigley renovation without public funding or new revenue streams.

 

I don't think it makes more sense than a Wrigley renovation even with full public funding. It's just the frustration of getting worked over by the city of Chicago bubbling over. But there's no way it makes sense without full public funding, or even close.

 

Yeah, that's wrong.

[Guest]

The City and rooftops are overplaying their hands here. They need the Cubs a helluva lot more than the Cubs need them. The team would make a ton of cash in Rosemont, which people forget is adjacent to O'Hare and is surrounded by hotels, restaurants, high and medium end office parks. Plus it's been highly redeveloped to the east of 294 and looks really good.

 

The team is making a ton of cash in Chicago. Again, no way the Cubs move because the mayor, the city council, and the neighboring community (including land baron Ricketts) won't let it happen because of the financial devestation it would cause to everyone involved.

 

Yeah, we're really arguing over nothing because the Cubs are going to get their way. Again, with the mayor's office on their side, I'm not really concerned.

[BeerHere]

The volume of people relying on the DeVry shuttle or similar service pales in comparison to the volume of people from the city looking to take public transport to a Cubs game.

 

And yes, if you're coming from the Northwest suburbs, where I live actually, travelling to a 7:00 game is going to be very similar in time to get to a Wrigley parking spot as it will be to park near the Rosemont stadium. Any difference currently would be eaten up by the tens of thousands of extra people trying to get to that spot if a stadium there were realized.

 

There's reasons why a Rosemont plan could eventually make sense. Convenience is absolutely not one of them. It would have to work in spite of lowered accessibility(and therefore attendance), not because of the location's convenience.

 

Where in the NW burbs do you live, McHenry Cnty?

I live in McHenry and I somewhat agree with TT. Getting to games in Rosemont (or Schaumburg) would be a lot easier for me. The Kennedy is terrible and once you finally get off that gameday trainwreck you have to deal with the awful traffic on Addison. Rosemont has better access to a couple highways but the congestion around the park would still be horrible. And then there are the planes.....the proposed location is right next to the airport and under a runway. It's not good. To me Rosemont is all about leverage and using that now is easily several months too late.

[Ryne Ween]

The Cubs do not need public financing to do anything. They are easily financially viable enough to attract privately placed debt that these days is cheap.

 

Anybody suggesting it is financially viable for ricketts to move the team hasnt really considered all the variables. Maybe in 15-20 years the economics will evolve to the point where its viable but its absolutely not viable now.

[jersey cubs fan]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-chicago-cubs--rooftop-owners--20130502,0,2123500.story

 

By Paul Sullivan, Tribune reporter

1:26 p.m. CDT, May 2, 2013

 

The Cubs met with Wrigley Field rooftop owners and neighbors Wednesday to show their plans for the $300 million ballpark renovation.

Rooftop owner Beth Murphy said the Cubs were successful in persuading many that they aren’t out to block the views of all the rooftop owners.

 

Is there a thaw in the feud between the Cubs and the rooftop owners?

 

“I think we’re at a point in the process where we’re just going to have to work out the details (of the plan),” Murphy said. “I no longer believe the Cubs want to block us. I wasn’t sure before, but I no longer believe that. I truly am optimistic they want to work this out.”

 

Murphy said the owners had a meeting with Cubs business president Crane Kenney on Wednesday in their conference room a block from Wrigley Field.

 

“The meeting with Crane was just surprising,” she said. “It was great.”

[Guest]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-chicago-cubs--rooftop-owners--20130502,0,2123500.story

 

By Paul Sullivan, Tribune reporter

1:26 p.m. CDT, May 2, 2013

 

The Cubs met with Wrigley Field rooftop owners and neighbors Wednesday to show their plans for the $300 million ballpark renovation.

Rooftop owner Beth Murphy said the Cubs were successful in persuading many that they aren’t out to block the views of all the rooftop owners.

 

Is there a thaw in the feud between the Cubs and the rooftop owners?

 

“I think we’re at a point in the process where we’re just going to have to work out the details (of the plan),” Murphy said. “I no longer believe the Cubs want to block us. I wasn’t sure before, but I no longer believe that. I truly am optimistic they want to work this out.”

 

Murphy said the owners had a meeting with Cubs business president Crane Kenney on Wednesday in their conference room a block from Wrigley Field.

 

“The meeting with Crane was just surprising,” she said. “It was great.”

 

Nice.

[Cubswin11]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/baseball/cubs/chi-chicago-cubs--rooftop-owners--20130502,0,2123500.story

 

By Paul Sullivan, Tribune reporter

1:26 p.m. CDT, May 2, 2013

 

The Cubs met with Wrigley Field rooftop owners and neighbors Wednesday to show their plans for the $300 million ballpark renovation.

Rooftop owner Beth Murphy said the Cubs were successful in persuading many that they aren’t out to block the views of all the rooftop owners.

Is there a thaw in the feud between the Cubs and the rooftop owners?

 

“I think we’re at a point in the process where we’re just going to have to work out the details (of the plan),” Murphy said. “I no longer believe the Cubs want to block us. I wasn’t sure before, but I no longer believe that. I truly am optimistic they want to work this out.”

 

Murphy said the owners had a meeting with Cubs business president Crane Kenney on Wednesday in their conference room a block from Wrigley Field.

 

“The meeting with Crane was just surprising,” she said. “It was great.”

Divide and conquer, nice!

[SouthSideRyan]

I want to throw Beth Murphy off a rooftop

[Guest]

I want to throw Beth Murphy off a rooftop

 

I didn't even know who she was prior to a couple of months ago but I agree.

[Banedon]

The day after threatening to move, all of a sudden she wants to play nice. Coincidence?