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Ricketts Not Giving Up On Wrigley Renovation Plan

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By Stephen Carrera for Northwestern Athletics

By Stephen Carrera for Northwestern Athletics

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UPDATED 11/16/10 – 5:23 p.m.

CHICAGO (CBS) – Chicago Cubs Chairman Tom Ricketts said Tuesday that there’s no “Plan B” to pay for a $400 million proposal to renovate Wrigley Field, so he hopes state lawmakers go along with a plan to get state aid for the plan.

The Ricketts family wants to get the General Assembly to approve a plan for the state to float up to $200 million in bonds that would be repaid by growth in amusement tax charged on Cubs tickets.

CBS 2’s Suzanne Le Mignot reports that, even though Mayor Richard M. Daley and Gov. Pat Quinn are opposed to the plan and House Speaker Mike Madigan said he believed it was withdrawn, Ricketts isn’t giving up.

Madigan told reporters Tuesday afternoon that he believed the Ricketts family had withdrawn their financing plan.

But later in the day, a spokesperson said the Ricketts family called Madigan and said they intend to work with him on the financing plan. The spokesperson said Madigan will try to be helpful as the Ricketts family gathers outside support.

Union leaders stood by Tom Ricketts on Tuesday to back the financing plan.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780′s John Cody Reports


Jorge Ramirez, President of the Chicago Federation of Labor, said, “This isn’t about the Cubs and it’s not about the (White) Sox. This isn’t about North Side or South Side, it’s about jobs.”

Business leaders tossed their support behind the propsal too.

Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce President Jerry Roper said, “We need to drive economic development in this community. We need to have projects like this.”

Ricketts’ plan would provide $400 million in renovations to Wrigley Field and the surrounding area, creating 1,000 construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs.

The plan would call for the state to issue up to $200 million in bonds that would be repaid through existing amusement taxes.

“There is no new tax. There is no tax increase, simply reinvesting of existing taxes going forward,” Ricketts said.

The Cubs would provide the other half of the $400 million in financing. Ricketts said the plan would allow for the preservation of Wrigley, while giving tax benefits to the city, county and state.

Ald. Ricardo Munoz (22nd) said, “This is the Ricketts family asking the state to do for the Cubs, what they’ve done for all other sports and tourism attractions.”

But Civic Federation President Laurence Msall said that, with a $13 billion deficit, the state has much bigger problems to address than renovating Wrigley Field.

“What we’re concerned is that this is a distraction to the work that needs to be taking place in Springfield,” Msall said. “The state of Illinois faces a financial crisis of epic proportions.”

Msall stressed that the Civic Federation is not against assisting a real tourist attraction for Chicago, but he said energy should be focused on solving the state’s budget crisis first.

The Ricketts family pointed out Tuesday that their proposal would bring in an additional $66 million each year to the local economy, in part by building a new restaurant and shopping venues near the stadium.

View Comments
  • wiseguy

    Sure create jobs for construction workers that belong to unions that always suck up the jobs. How about jobs for the average middle-class.

  • BearsFanInHoustonTx

    and you also were told one day that all the toll booths would go away once the bond was paid…mmmm….
    I agree with Terry on this one…if a owner can’t afford to run the orgizations without asking the public for more money….then figure out another way…maybe sell more bricks? LOL

  • Phiilip

    No. Way. If you could not afford it, you should not have bought a lousy overpriced team. The last thing in the world I want to do is finance $90 bleacher seats.

  • jose perez

    Read the florida Marlins story!!!!
    Why do we have pay for this?
    The Cubs are making so much money and overpaying under achiving players.
    Why do we have to pay for their mistakes.
    Remember Soldier field?
    We are still paying for it and we canot afford tickets to go see the Bears.
    You want us to do this again , now with the cubs!!!
    No thank you

  • tommy

    vote them all out of they approve this tax,and i mean all of them starting with mike madigan.

  • Cornelius Mcallister

    MR GOVERNOR PLEASE DONT GRANT THIS TEAM WITH THESE BONDS. OUR STATE IS ALREADY IN DEBT AND CANT AFFORD TO BE GIVING OUT MONEY TO A TEAM THAT DONT NOW HOW TO WIN. THE MONEY THAT THIS TEAM IS ASKING FOR CAN ALSO CREATE JOBS IN EDUCATION OR TRANSPORTATION. NO TO THE SCRUBS FREE MONEY I MEAN CUBS FREE MONEY!!!!

  • Jim

    If the state gives me $200M I will give $50k to 4000 lucky people. That’s 4 times better than Ricketts plan and I won’t give it away to unions! :)

  • Matt

    If Cub fans were not such tools – they may actually revolt but alas the Cub fans are beat dogs that always go back for more – suckers!

  • Saul

    Move the CUBS out to a suburb, like Schaumburg and build them a new stadium!!
    There are nothing but a bunch of Irish drunks at these games in Chicago anyway.

  • Peter

    he can do half of it now, charge the fans and see if the money will be there in 17.5 years to finish up. What if he gets the cash and no one comes to the games due to ticket prices, then we loose it all or will he then ask obabma for money?

  • Peter

    Since winning here is obviously a joke, why dont we get rid off all the players and give out $100grand contracts to highschool kids for 2 years and there is the money.

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