This blog post is a continuation of the post about the
first 100 years of Wrigley Field
The park’s great integration with its surroundings comes
from the timing of its construction—built in 1914, it leaned on public
transportation instead of cars—and the vision of its architect. Zachary Taylor
Davis, known as the “Frank Lloyd Wright of Baseball,” grew up in Aurora,
Illinois, and got his start in a very Chicago way, designing meat-packing
plants and working as a draftsman for the legendary Louis Sullivan. Davis gave
the park, initially named Weeghman Park after owner and charismatic businessman
Charley "Lucky Charlie" Weeghman, a single-grandstand design. The
steel-and-concrete structure with exposed bricks and steel beams reflected the
city’s modern, industrial character. Wrigley has stood the test of time because it’s sewn into
the urban fabric, from nightlife to street vendors. Hours before the game
tonight, fans will stream into the Wrigleyville neighborhood, packing bars and
restaurants. Those arriving by public transportation will step onto the
platform at the Addison Red Line stop and look down on bustling streets and a
view of the field. Nearby buildings are so close to the field that owners have
even converted their rooftops to bleacher seating they sell to fans. - Curbed Chicago
What’s also unique to Wrigley, is that it’s right in the middle of a neighborhood. One minute you’re passing two-flats, then you turn the corner on Addison Street and suddenly see the bright red marquee. Cubs’ second basemen Ben Zobrist, living only a mile away from the field, regularly bikes to games in his uniform and makes time to chat with neighbors. Now with a championship behind them, the Cubs have a new fandom. Much of the old Wrigleyville is shrinking and a flurry of new construction—hotels, restaurants, shops and apartments—is replacing it. We’ll help you get the full experience of the Major League’s second oldest ballpark—whether that means making sure your seat isn’t in front of a pillar or scooping up some insider tips. Welcome to the Friendly Confines, a nickname given to Wrigley by player Ernie Banks.





1st floor

2nd floor
3rd floor


The city approved the development in October 2013 after years of planning. On Monday, Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) said financing for the project should be in place by the end of 2015, but some leases were still being negotiated according to DNAinfo
One of the most popular of the businesses to
depart from the landscape was Goose Island-Clark Street





photo - Chicago Cityscape
photo - WrigleyFieldNews.com
the future hotel space
and closer view below - via Block Club of Chicago

The purpose of neighborhood associations is to consider and act upon citizen needs. A main function of neighborhood associations is to encourage citizen participation and broaden communication between its neighborhood and various organizations and individuals concerning matters affecting neighborhood livability. - Wikipedia




The Cubs and the project team are inspired by the
one-of-a-kind experiences Wrigley Field provides: walking up the stairs and
seeing the lush, green field; tracking the game's progress via the iconic,
hand-operated scoreboard; measuring the time of the year by the amount of ivy
covering the brick outfield walls. Fans cherish the Wrigley Field Marquee on
the park's exterior and the sightlines to the field, which are unmatched by any
other ballpark in baseball.
To ensure the integrity of the Friendly Confines is
maintained throughout all phases of the restoration, the design team visited a
number of iconic ballparks and stadiums -- including Fenway Park, Dodger
Stadium and the Rose Bowl -- that recently underwent major renovations. These
efforts, in addition to countless hours of research on Wrigley Field and its
history, were performed before starting the construction.
The goal of this project is to make sure we preserve and
protect Wrigley Field for future generations, improve the game day experience
for fans and provide the Cubs the resources they need to field a winning team.
To do this the right way, we assembled a project team with a passion for the
local Chicago community, coupled with vast experience around the globe."
'For all its quirks and charms and age and things you love
and hate, is most certainly not "intact". In fact, there's now almost
nothing left from the original edifice constructed in 1914. In fact, the last
part of any "original" construction was demolished in 2005. My point
is that Wrigley Field is a living, changing entity and always has been. Even
the "perimeter walls" that are supposed to be preserved haven't been;
the outer walls behind the bleachers on Waveland and Sheffield date only from
2006. While that would obviously be a significant change, the ballpark has had
many such changes over the years; even though certain parts are landmarked,
it's not anywhere close to the baseball stadium that was first built at Clark
and Addison 99 years ago. In fact, what the Cubs plan to do will make it look
more like the version of Wrigley that existed when the Cubs were winning
pennants in the 1920s and 1930s, than at any time since.'
photo - Bob Russel via Pictures of Chicago-Facebook
In the 80’s the Cubs experienced a revived popularity and interest in the team, some entrepreneurs began constructing more sophisticated seating arrangements on these once crude rooftop properties. Some owners began to charge admission to their establishments. This did not bode well with the Cubs organization. Management tolerated these entrepreneurial endeavors for almost a decade, until the rooftops became organized and profitable businesses. The Cubs believed this encroached on their business and used the Cubs for personal and financial gain”. Discussions quickly began between the property owners and the Chicago Cubs. In 2004, 11 of the 13 established rooftops settled and agreed to pay 17% of gross revenue in exchange for official endorsement. - Wrigley View Rooftop
'Wrigley Field was part of the neighborhood. Today, it is the neighborhood. Nowhere can you see the disruptive effect of the new 'moneyball economics' than among the greystones. Those guys on the roof with their folding chairs have long since gone the way of the Potawatomi. As early as 1938, the Sheffield Baseball Club sold $5.00 rooftop seats for the World Series, but after the Trib bought the team, the trend hit warp speed, fueled by 1989 a Championship series sold-out in the stadium. Bare rooftops became slightly more finished rooftops, and then apartments became clubhouses. A guy named Tom Gramatis became a “rooftop mogul”, owning not just the Sheffield Baseball Club, but two other buildings, as well.
Instead of places to live, the greystones and their neighbors became, over time, the strange machines of a mutant urbanism, creating a Magritte-like architectural landscape where rooftop after rooftop is crowned with its own metallic bleachers. If baseball has become a billionaires' clubhouse, rooftop clubs are the millionaires’ outpost, with estimated annual revenues exceeding $20 million. Worried rooftop owners are fighting back, trying to stop closing the streets on game days, and coming up with a counter-proposal to allow the Cubs to place advertising signs, not at Wrigley Field, where they might block rooftop views, but on the rooftops themselves, producing perhaps $10 million in new revenue, to be shared with the Cubs, who quickly dismissed the idea. Will the Ricketts continue to land bank their way through Wrigleyville? Rooftop owners retain a paranoid fear that the Ricketts's ultimate goal is to drive them out of business and buy up their properties on the cheap. And those aren't the only parcels that might be had at a bargain.' - Architecture Chicago Plus

photo - ABC Eye Witness News

photo 2006 - Wikipedia

photo - The Cub Dom

photo - Chicago Now

photo - Wrigleyville Rooftops
one of several rooftoppers on Sheffield Avenue



Example of Rooftop Construction



by Wrigley Renovations-Facebook

photo - Wrigley Renovations-Facebook

photo - Wrigley Renovations-Facebook

photo - Wrigley Renovations-Facebook


photo - Wrigley Renovations-Facebook


view east towards the lakefront

view north to northeast

view east to northeast

view northwest

view west to northwest above view west below

2015 photo below - Jay Cody
The Stats by ESPN
& overshadowed by construction
2016 photo - Brian Weber via LakeView Historical-Facebook
The foundation was layed in 2020

Phase 2 in 2016

Phase 3 in 2017
both photos - DNAinfo
This was another first day opener during an entire year of
continued renovations with a few years more to go ....




2016 photo - New York Times
photo - Ian Common via Pictures of Chicago-Facebook
photo - Ian Common via Pictures of Chicago-Facebook
photo - Ian Common via Pictures of Chicago-Facebook
photos - Wrigley Aerials-Twitter
A May 9 2014 before noticeable construction
the famous advertised roof on Waveland
March 29 2016 - Still needed to break ground for hotel

the intersection of Addison and Clark streets


view north & westward along Clark Street

The Vintage Filing Station
photo - Roadside Architecture
photo - Jerry Carroll via Pictures of Chicago
below photo - Chicago Cub Fans-Facebook
The excavation for this space began in November 2016. The baseball diamond area was torn-up per this video from WGN.
illustration - Chicago Tribune

but I must dig it

The Cub's Year to WIN
Official Cubs Parody by Joey Busse

These were a few selection pages from the comic book

below via Chicago History-Facebook
it got international attention from the BBC
photo - Emanuel Torres, Pictures of Chicago-Facebook
via Jron Samayoa, Original Chicago-Facebook
photos below - DNAinfo

















photo - Chicago Tribune

photo - DNAinfo
photo - Fox Sports

photo - DNAinfo
below photo - Lauren Wood
via Southport Corridor News & Events



The Premier
photo - BuildingUpChicagoDotCom
photo - DNAinfo article
photo - Wrigley Aerial/Twitter via BuildingUpChicago.com
photos - DNAinfo article
CHICAGO (WLS) - The Chicago Cubs lost to the Los Angeles
Dodgers 11-1 in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series, and the
Dodgers advanced to the World Series. Enrique Hernandez put a Hollywood ending
on an LA story three decades in the making. Fueled by Hernandez's home run
trilogy, Clayton Kershaw and the Los Angeles Dodgers are finally going to the
World Series. Hernandez homered three times and drove in seven runs, Kershaw
breezed through six crisp innings and Los Angeles ended the Chicago Cubs' title
defense with an 11-1 victory in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series on
Thursday night. "It feels good to hear World Series," Kershaw said.
"It's been a long time coming for this team." After years of playoff
heartache, there was just no stopping this group of Dodgers. With Kershaw
firing away at the top of a deep pitching staff and Justin Turner anchoring a
tough lineup, one of baseball's most storied franchises captured its first
pennant since Hall of Famer Tommy Lasorda managed Los Angeles to its last
championship in 1988. The Dodgers will host the New York Yankees or Houston
Astros in Game 1 of the World Series on Tuesday night. The Yankees have a 3-2
lead in the ALCS heading into Game 6 at Houston on Friday night, so one more
New York win would set up another chapter in an old October rivalry between the
Yankees and Dodgers.
The Ice Rink
the old Ice Rink now in 'Wrigley at the Park'
and the private development on Clark/Addison
December photos by Wrigley Aerial - Twitter
photo - Wrigley Aerial/Twitter
December 2017 view - Wrigley Aerial/Twitter
photo - Chicago Magazine
below photo - Wayne Johnson



photo above via Getty Images
below photo/new dugout - Wrigley Report
a video celebration
located under the left bleachers as of 2018
photos - Jeffrey Horwitz via Pictures of Chicago-Facebook



Cubs Facebook video
and finally the Opener 2019


and the fans remain loyal
photos - NBC Chicago
Its Been 3 Years,
With only 10 days left of the 2019 season it 'touch and go' for the Cubbies and its again time to pray for a win!
Last Season
a new building on Patterson Avenue near the ballpark
A National Landmark
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The home of the Chicago Cubs, Wrigley
Field, has been designated a National Historic Landmark. U.S. Secretary of the
Interior David L. Bernhardt announced the designation Thursday, saying the
ballpark has played a significant role in the city of Chicago and the history
of professional sports. National Historic Landmarks are buildings, sites,
districts, structures and objects that have been determined by the secretary of
the interior to be nationally significant in American history and culture,
federal officials said. "The historical significance of Wrigley Field is
interwoven into our nation's story and a key part of what has become America's
beloved pastime for over a century," Bernhardt said.
(Reuters) - Billionaire William “Beau” Wrigley Jr is taking cannabis producer Parallel public, in a merger due to complete this summer with Canadian-listed Ceres Acquisition Corp that values the Atlanta, Georgia-based firm at $1.88 billion. Parallel, the first firm Wrigley Jr has led since selling his family’s chewing gum business for $23 billion in 2008, will take on Ceres’ listing on the NEO exchange as expectations of an easing of U.S. rules on the pot sector draws investment. Shares of Ceres surged 19% to $12.50 as the deal comes at a time when officially-sanctioned sales of cannabis have surged to record levels during the COVID-19 pandemic.The combined company expects to have $430 million cash when the deal closes, a spokeswoman for Parallel confirmed to Reuters. With around 50 retail stores, cultivation and manufacturing sites in four U.S. states, Parallel will use the money to expand into new markets. It sells finished products including gummies, vapes and balms, but not chewing gum.
Fans can return to Sox Park and Wrigley Field for baseball games this season. Mayor Lori Lightfoot made the announcement in a tweet Monday, saying fans could return to White Sox and Cubs games because coronavirus’s spread has slowed in Chicago. Those will be Chicago’s first major sports teams to be allowed to welcome back crowds since the pandemic started in spring 2020.
The Cubs’ opening day is April 1 and the White Sox open at home April 8. Fans will have to wear masks at the games, and there will be “comprehensive screening and sanitization procedures,” according to a news release from the Mayor’s Office. Capacity will be limited to 20 percent at Guaranteed Rate Field, meaning just 8,122 fans will be allowed in at once. Parties of people will have to stay 6 feet apart, according to the Mayor’s Office. Wrigley Field will similarly have a 20 percent capacity limit, meaning it will be able to seat just 8,274 fans per game. Wrigley rooftops will be open, though they’ll operate under the same restrictions as bars and restaurants. Other changes are Ballpark entry and amenity zones will have limited-contact entry, There will be cashless concessions and shops, Additional restrooms per guest, Reduced queueing times, and Reconfigured indoor spaces.
What Happens to Wrigley Field ...