The Rosemont Cubs?

[Dick Whitman]

The mayor of Rosemont, the town that abuts O'Hare Airport, is offering the Cubs 25 acres to build a new ballpark upon:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-edit-wrigley-20130320,0,4600310.story

The dispute, which is quite political, also surrounds ballpark signage, which rooftop owners are balking about. Alderman Tom Tunney suggests that the Cubs tear down the iconic scoreboard and replace it with a video board that could be used to raise advertising revenue instead.

Can't wait to see how it all plays out.

 

[LongTimeListener]

As the Ricketts family showed during the presidential campaign, they are a very nice group of level-headed and logical people. So I think they'll seek out the solution that is best for all and not just go for the money.

 

[YankeeFan]

I think Schaumburg would make more sense, thought you can ride the Blue Line to Rosemont.

Probably won't ever happen, but if there's an offer on the table, the Cubs will use it as leverage.

 

[Dick Whitman]

I think Schaumburg would make more sense, thought you can ride the Blue Line to Rosemont.

Probably won't ever happen, but if there's an offer on the table, the Cubs will use it as leverage.

Yep. That's how the White Sox got their stadium built. You have to threaten to leave - and be willing to follow through.

 

[RickStain]

The problem, everybody knows it's not going to happen and it's a stupid, transparent attempt at leverage if they try to use it.

It's basically the Rosemont mayor getting some face time in the press, and a few Cubs water carriers in the local media trying to help the team.

 

[LongTimeListener]

What is the value of the Cubs without the sun-baked days of Wrigley, though? When the White Sox were threatening, Comiskey was a dump that should have been condemned, in the worst part of town.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

Maybe they should threaten to move the team to Gary, Ind.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Maybe they should threaten to move the team to Gary, Ind.

The Bears did.

Gary would actually not be a bad place for a team. Easy toll road and/or Interstate access. Lots of land that's not being put to use. The minor-league stadium there now is a gem.

 

[User 11148]

Alderman Tom Tunney suggests that the Cubs tear down the iconic scoreboard and replace it with a video board that could be used to raise advertising revenue instead.

That iconic scoreboard could be replaced with a video board of the same shape. They have an electronic scoreboard at the Ballpark here in Arlington, and they've programmed in numbers being changed, etc., so that it looks just like an old manual scoreboard. There's no reason other than a desire for quaint-ness that Wrigley doesn't have something like that.

 

[RickStain]

There is one universal rule of Cubdom, besides never winning the World Series: Anything that happens within three blocks of Wrigley Field more than once in a two-year period is a "tradition" and can never, ever be changed. No matter how stupid or useless it is.

They'll fold the team before they replace the scoreboard.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

It will be a crime if the Cubs ever play anywhere other than Wrigley and if the Red Sox ever play anywhere other than Fenway...

That certainly doesn't mean it won't happen, but it would suck if it does...

 

[Dick Whitman]

It will be a crime if the Cubs ever play anywhere other than Wrigley and if the Red Sox ever play anywhere other than Fenway...

That certainly doesn't mean it won't happen, but it would suck if it does...

The Cubs problem is a unique one, because the ballpark is so intertwined with the surrounding neighborhood. The Red Sox were able to do things like build bleachers on top of the Green Monster that turn into major issues at Wrigley.

 

[YankeeFan]

The problem, everybody knows it's not going to happen and it's a stupid, transparent attempt at leverage if they try to use it.

It's basically the Rosemont mayor getting some face time in the press, and a few Cubs water carriers in the local media trying to help the team.

Rosemont would do it. Maybe the Cubs would never take the deal, but it's not an empty threat from Rosemont.

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I wonder if there would be some way to give Wrigley a major overhaul so you can preserve the history and still make it more modern.

The only real example I can think of is what they did at Lambeau a decade or so ago...

 

[Dick Whitman]

I wonder if there would be some way to give Wrigley a major overhaul so you can preserve the history and still make it more modern.

The only real example I can think of is what they did at Lambeau a decade or so ago...

I've always thought you completely rebuild the seating bowl and upper deck and retain the bleachers, scoreboard, and outfield wall/ivy. Play at U.S. Cellular for a year or two while the project is underway.

 

[Bob Cook]

Rosemont can make a realistic play because it's a tiny town run by a family dynasty (Stephens the younger replaced Stephens the older -- whose name is on the convention center -- as mayor), and it has a ****ing ****load of money for being lucky enough to be adjacent to O'Hare. The Ricketts family will go where the money is, and they can get a lot of it out of Rosemont, as well as ironclad promises that they can do pretty much anything they want.

I don't think it will happen, but I don't think Rosemont is blowing smoke, either.

 

[Michael_ Gee]

When the John Henry group bought the Sox in 2002, they very quickly determined that cramped, no-parking old Fenway was their prime asset, the franchise's real star attraction. So they began a series of incremental improvements (by improvement, I mean things that made more money for them). If the Cubs ownership doesn't see how Wrigley works for them, they really are stupid.
Mizzou, I see no reason why similar things couldn't be done to Wrigley. Fenway is as cramped by its neighborhood as it is, and cramped by things like hospitals and universities which have major political clout to block what they don't like.

 

[Dick Whitman]

When the John Henry group bought the Sox in 2002, they very quickly determined that cramped, no-parking old Fenway was their prime asset, the franchise's real star attraction. So they began a series of incremental improvements (by improvement, I mean things that made more money for them). If the Cubs ownership doesn't see how Wrigley works for them, they really are stupid.
Mizzou, I see no reason why similar things couldn't be done to Wrigley. Fenway is as cramped by its neighborhood as it is, and cramped by things like hospitals and universities which have major political clout to block what they don't like.

But you can build upward at Fenway - like the Green Monster bleachers. You can't do that at Wrigley. Then it wouldn't be Wrigley any more.

 

[YankeeFan]

Rosemont can make a realistic play because it's a tiny town run by a family dynasty (Stephens the younger replaced Stephens the older -- whose name is on the convention center -- as mayor), and it has a ****ing ****load of money for being lucky enough to be adjacent to O'Hare. The Ricketts family will go where the money is, and they can get a lot of it out of Rosemont, as well as ironclad promises that they can do pretty much anything they want.

I don't think it will happen, but I don't think Rosemont is blowing smoke, either.

Exactly.

They have a good tax base thanks to all the hotels. There's a bunch of office buildings, a convention center, and an arena.

They just spent a lot of money to open a new "entertainment district" with a bunch of bars and restaurants, near the convention center.

And, they're going to lose DePaul basketball soon. While it's surely not a big money maker -- they're given the arena rent free -- Rosemont will want to replace that entertainment option with something substantial.

 

[swenk]

The White Sox should do this eventually. The Cubs can't and won't...not as long as the ballpark is the most popular player in the history of the franchise.

That Rosemont entertainment area is just bizarre. It seems to cater to an odd combination of suburban 24 yr olds who want to drink and party without going into the city, and suburban families who want to show the kids a good time without going into the city.