New Wrigley Field Plans Include Hotel, Huge Courtyard

After months spent gathering feedback from Lake View neighbors on plans to completely overhaul Wrigley Field and its surrounding neighborhoods, the Chicago Cubs are finally ready to show residents what’s up its sleeve.

Jennifer Dedes Nowak, manager of community outreach, grants and donations for the Cubs, presented the team’s preliminary plans for the ballpark during Tuesday night’s West Lake View Neighbors meeting.

A video and artist renderings of the area—which are unavailable to the media—showed potential developments such as a huge courtyard with a movie screen, new retail buildings and a hotel where the current McDonald’s sits near Wrigley Field.

They’re just conceptual drawings, but Dedes Nowak says updated renderings will be ready in the next couple of weeks.

“Right now we’re in the conceptual phases for what we are going to do with Wrigley, and the first thing is the ballpark needs to be saved,” Dedes Nowak said. “But a lot of the redevelopment to the stadium are changes that are not glamorous or revenue-generating renovations.”

That means cosmetic upgrades to transform the stadium back to what it looked like in 1935, as well as improved necessities for both players and fans. From new batting tunnels and clubhouses to more restrooms and concession stands, the overall look of Wrigley Field may not change drastically, but its functionality will.

“The mayor says routinely and repeatedly that regarding Wrigley Field renovations, it must first protect the taxpayers, and we 100 percent agree...” 

The real changes, however, are coming outside the park. The “triangle lot” west of the park features an open concept with items such as a movie screen, new retail space, a large glass office building and even pavement with fast-freezing coils to create ice rinks faster. And the lot where McDonald’s currently sits, which was purchased the Ricketts family, could become a hotel and retail area.

The same video and renderings have been presented to neighbors since October’s Community Directed Development Council meeting, and since then, neighbors have been weighing in on everything from the project’s design to the area’s biggest concern: traffic.

During a Nov. 5 Southport Neighbors meeting, residents spoke up about traffic issues on Clark Street during game days and what adding even more parking to the area would do to Wrigleyville. Cubs’ Executive Vice President of Community Affairs Michael Lufrano told neighbors that they're planning an extensive traffic study, as well as streetscape construction to reduce traffic on Clark. 

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What’s still unknown is funding. At almost every neighborhood meeting where a Cubs representative presented the preliminary plan, residents brought up the team’s public debate over funding. During the Southport Neighbors meeting, Lufrano admitted it’s currently unclear, but he mentioned they expect more advertising in the outfield or proposed courtyard, and they might even ticket the courtyard on game days.

“As of now we’re exploring the options of where the funds come from,” Dedes Nowak said Tuesday. “If we got some kind of public financing or agreement with the city, that might allow us to do a little more, and then we’d move on the next stage to redevelopment. That’s in discussions elsewhere, though, and I don’t think that’s anything that imminent.”

During a November West Lake View Neighbors meeting, Julian Green, the Cubs’ vice president of communications and community affairs, says the team is working with both neighbors and local government to come to some sort of agreement.

“The mayor says routinely and repeatedly that regarding Wrigley Field renovations, it must first protect the taxpayers, and we 100 percent agree,” Green said. “And Ald. Tunney said any renovation must enhance the quality of life here. So where does that leave us? I think it leaves us creating a true partnership.

“We don’t know how we’re going to pay for this thing yet,” he continued, “but what we have been doing is going around to the neighborhood and showing some of the conceptual drawings.”

New, public photos will be presented Jan 19., Green told DNAinfo, a publication also owned by the Joe Rickett’s trust fund. Patch will publish the renderings as soon as they become available.