Concept art of a new LED scoreboard and new patio deck in the right field bleachers at Wrigley Field. (Credit: Chicago Cubs)
CHICAGO (STMW) – It’s not the Green Monster seats that Fenway Park has, and that wasn’t even a vague inspiration, the Cubs say.
But a new patio deck and overall look to the revamped right-field bleachers at Wrigley Field should be the most dramatic aesthetic change to the ballpark’s interior in years when it’s unveiled for the home opener April 5.
“It’ll be a great section for groups,” Cubs business operations president Crane Kenney said Saturday as the team announced the plan during the second day of the Cubs Convention. “What we’re finding is that people want to be able to circulate. Certainly, you see it on the rooftops. Places where you can bring clients, move around in the space, and not just be fixed.”
The new patio area atop the renovated, raised bleacher section will have a capacity for 150 standing-room-only tickets, the prices and sales plans for which haven’t been finalized, said Kenney.
What seating survives the renovation was raised in part to alleviate some obstruction issues and in large part to accommodate a 70-foot-long LED board with rotating advertising and information-display capabilities, but not likely any video-replay functions. The height of the section doesn’t change, and none of the changes will affect the scoreboard, ivy or brick of the outfield wall, avoiding landmark-protection issues.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2012. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
8 Comments
I bet the rooftop owners in right field aren’t going to like this…
January 15, 2012 at 11:40 am
Do they sell out the skyboxes on a routine basis? That’s where the circulation can take place. They could remodel those.
Does that look like an inclined patio? Do they, really, want to go with an embankment?
January 15, 2012 at 2:33 pm
Crane Kenney should have nothing to do with this ball club. Ew.
This is only about money. And I bet those will be some expensive SRO tickets.
The Cubs simply need a new stadium. You can only tweak it so much. This is more about paid advertising than anything else.
January 15, 2012 at 5:05 pm
I know Theo is now here, but why does Wrigley have to change? It’s not Fenway! You won’t be drawing any more people to the park! Way to turn Wrigley into another overly commercial ball park.
January 15, 2012 at 8:53 pm
It was named for a corporation before most of it’s current fans parent’s were born… It was practically built as a commercialized park.
January 16, 2012 at 12:21 pm
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of course not big enough for video, Crane Kenney contines his reign as number one idiot with the Cubs. Way to Go!!
January 16, 2012 at 5:17 pm
Sure, it’s about revenue generation, but not if you are holding your hand out to a bankrupt SoILL.
And, it still looks like a concrete incline. Not a good design.
January 16, 2012 at 9:46 pm