Why Every City Wants a Wrigley Field

Are stadiums good neighbors? It depends on who you ask. Do you live near Wrigley Field, where the Cubs play well? You probably knew what you were getting into and moved here, so you'll probably enjoy it at least for a while. That said, live. Next to any of the other stadiums here in Chicago, it's not even possible for them to be isolated by huge freeways and stranded in the middle of parking lots. The nearest neighbor could be a senior care facility with no vibrant community in sight in most American cities. He says his stadiums are also like those where people don't live next door, but that's changing, the Bears may not be the only Chicago sports team considering a new home, the white socks may also be on the move in recent times. years, mixed-use developments led by Huge stadiums are next to entertainment and commercial offices and even residential buildings.

There are over 200 stadium projects underway in the world right now; in fact, there might be a new one of these here in Chicago. Soon, no matter where they are, although much depends on these new developments, when done well, they create new jobs and generate tax revenue, attract tourists and stimulate economic and physical development in their wake, but when executed poorly, these initiatives Massive explosions decimate neighborhoods with black holes. They remain empty for weeks and are hostile to anyone who

wants

to live, visit or just stop by to see all of this, although Rickley Field is often considered the gold standard when there is no game on, this area is full of life and activity and when there is a good game, that's another story, but then

every

thing goes back to normal pretty quickly.

The stadium helped support the surrounding community and stood the test of time to become completely absorbed into it. It is so beloved that it was designated a historic monument in 2004. Why? Haven't other cities and stadiums been doing this all along? Can the newcomers replicate their success? Will people suddenly want a stadium for a neighbor and are willing to pay for it on the surface? The context of Wrigley Field. It is the least ideal stadium in Chicago for hosting crowds, it is difficult to get to from the freeway, there is almost no parking nearby and it is surrounded by residences and apartment buildings, this is a huge responsibility, the owners notoriously fight against any changes that may be made. alter the nimes of your neighborhood.

The Cubs were confined to playing only day games for 50 years after other teams began playing at night. Wrigley Field was the last MLB stadium to have lights installed in 1988, all because night games could disturb nearby residents. The stadium is almost completely integrated and entangled within the local urban fabric. It is often difficult to know where the stadium begins and ends. You can watch the games from the rooftops of nearby buildings. For example, there is a freestanding building in the northwest of the same block. The part of the stadium across the street is a hotel. of the same brick with the same brick sidewalk is that part too in a sense, yes, they are part of the stadium, that building in the northeast corner is the Wrigley Field office building and, among many other things, its interconnection with its neighbor solves a very specific problem before its construction in 2017, if you were sitting in the right

field

stands during a game you would have been distracted by the constant sounds of garbage trucks, the stadium did not have enough space to store all the garbage generated during a single game it weighs more than 315 tons in each game, so the trash had to be emptied three times in each game.

The stadium in its current form simply cannot accommodate

every

thing needed to host a modern baseball game, but the building's Landmark status severely limits what can be changed in the designation. It is intended to protect the appearance of the structures and preserve their original character. This means that no additions or extensions should be made. It also means that engineers and designers had to be smart to solve this garbage problem. The solution was to create a building that would sit outside the boundaries of the landmark. Protection zone and then connect it underground with a tunnel. The new structure serves as the back door to the stadium with all the loading docks and is also where the staff and players enter and underground in the basement there is much-needed temporary storage for trash, anything that might change.

Wrigley Field or affecting the immediate area is examined at an extremely high level when the lights were added, they reviewed 28 different options to find the best solution that would adequately illuminate the

field

while minimizing disruption to the neighborhood. The work that gave us the smart solution. trash solution, was part of a larger set of renovations called 1060, the project was named after the building's address and included new structural solutions from the foundation to the roof. Renovations to the iconic scoreboard and sign and a host of other amenities, all of this. The work had to be done incrementally in stages between baseball seasons.

The limitations of the building that are imposed by its physical surroundings mean that every change is careful and deliberate. Evolution here takes time and each change can be studied and then corrected. Let's compare that to Chicago. another baseball place on the south side of town it's now called guaranteed rate field and it's where the white socks play but they don't want to play there anymore but we'll get to that for now they play here they used to play here this is where kamsky park used to be Originally created in 1909, Charles Kamsky turned a former landfill into a premier baseball destination with a symbiotic relationship with its surroundings, was easily accessible by streetcar and Green Line trains, and could watch games from nearby rooftops.

There were some nearby residential areas here too, especially to the south, it was also surrounded by quite a few factories and railway yards, but the location resonated with working class fans of white socks. In the 1980s, the White Socks decided the stadium needed modernizing, but they didn't want to be the only ones to pay for it, so why should they? A new stadium will bring all kinds of benefits to the entire surrounding area, so it is logical that the government contributes to this investment that benefits everyone and the team. They threatened to go somewhere else if they didn't get what they wanted at the time.

Accessibility by car was believed to be one of the most important factors in attracting fans to attend matches, which would be accompanied by obvious considerations. Inside, which simply reinforces the fan experience during the game, this area was already quite accessible by car thanks to the road that was cut here during the 1950s, so a new stadium was proposed for the Southsky Park block. Funds for the new structure came from hotel taxes. and other public revenues and all of this was administered by the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority or the isfa. Its sole purpose is to manage what was then called New Kamsky Park, but despite being built and paid for by the nearby government, the building itself does very little to physically. benefits the local community, the design could have been located almost anywhere in any

city

or suburb in the country.

Sure it incorporates some features of the old park, like the arched windows and the exploding scoreboard, but everything else is pretty generic and once the building is built. was completed, the old one was lifted and then the site was converted into a parking lot and boy, there are a lot of parking lots on 70 acres for a total of 7,000 individual spaces. No stadium, no matter how sophisticated, could fulfill the promise of direct benefit. In this community, the nearby house is blocks away, so we have two very different situations: one stadium that is completely separated from its context, while the other is almost completely inseparable from it.

The separate stadium is paid for entirely with public tax dollars and is owned by the government in the meantime. Wrigley The course, which is completely integrated into the neighborhood, is privately owned and operated, doesn't it seem like it should be the opposite? That's not to say Wrigley Field hasn't benefited from taxpayer-funded programs, it certainly has done so differently and in ways that provide better results. about the promise that those funds will actually go to the community and the things it cares about; for example, many of Wrigley's recent renovations were made possible by tax breaks available due to its Landmark status, the idea is that the restrictions that This tax is like not being able to add those restrictions are offset by tax reliefs.

This helps defray the cost of expensive renovations that might have to go toward preserving the integrity of the structure. Additionally, Wrigley's lack of parking and freeway access means it places a heavy burden on other transportation systems that are supported by the

city

; each home game attracts tens of thousands of people who swarm the area, lingering a couple of hours and then they leave. More than 40% of fans arrive by public transportation, Cubs owners do not pay. For any of that, however, the city's investment in public transportation benefits residents year-round, now here we are, most teams across the country followed a similar path to the white socks, either in publicly owned stadiums separate from their community or on both teams, including the white socks.

They see the potential of moving to a more integrated neighborhood environment and are looking to build those types of things and then make the move. This pays off when attendance increases and everything becomes more enjoyable when the other programs can help generate year-round generation. activity that ultimately then the growth of the Spurs in the nearby area and fans also gain when they are closer to their favorite teams, that's what the initial plans for this 62-acre proposal in Chicago known as 78 show .It is developing in a new neighborhood with entertainment. and residential office programs and other institutional programs the area is close to the city center adjacent to the river and well served by public transportation the white socks want in but are once again asking for millions in public taxpayer dollars to help make this happen happen, but I don't.

I don't want you to think this is just a story about Chicago or its baseball teams. This is the playbook for the vast majority of stadiums today looking to move into urban centers across the country, but it's not even the only debate over public financing of a new stadium. stadium being built in Chicago right now this plan is going to become a reality Chicago Bears President Kevin Warren says Springfield needs to act quickly on a funding bill to fill the gap. Here we have the opportunity to build a year-round place where this city can The vast majority of economists meet, 83% of them, when asked, agree that the cost-benefit of stadium financing rarely Maybe it helps the city when things don't go well.

The fans end up feeling exploited and things go downhill from there, ultimately driving a wedge between the fans, the neighborhood and the team. In the past, this distance was literalized as parking lots in scenarios like what happened with the Guaranteed Rate, but also the government agency in this case, the ifsa, is put in a no-win scenario when the fans want one thing and then the team

wants

something else, it seems like everyone benefits if we just cut out the middleman, but we don't Make no mistake, Wriggley's situation is completely ideal, or everyone knows that certain compromises are made inside the ballpark and the Cubs have made their fair share of threats to move. the suburbs, if they didn't get their way, it's not that they chose the harder path because they're morally superior or something.

The lesson I draw from all of this has to do with the power of incremental change and the rewards of justice. resist the temptation to wipe the slate clean and start over very little movement is actually original maybe some pieces of steel holding up part of the roof and the large bleachers near home plate that's all it's a perfect example of the ship of the thesis which is the thought experiment that asks whether every part of something that has been changed or replaced is really the same, even the Beloved ivy wall and the hand scoreboard were added a decade after the original structure was built and were then completely rebuilt as part of the recent renovation but making incremental changes slows things down the effects of each adjustment can be studied and calibrated it also offers a sense of continuity everyone and everything remains connected to theplace as the stadium and the neighborhood grow together the '78 White Sox proposal includes an updated version of Kamsky Park's explosive scoreboard.

I personally like the proposal too and even the plan they are proposing for the old part includes adding dense housing like what would have been here originally before all the parking, but part of me wonders why this can't happen anyway ways and when these new developments advance throughout the country. I hope everyone can take into account the lessons of the theses ship model. Let's think twice before jumping ship when things get challenging, sometimes there are limitations. can lead to things like ingenuity that pays off on longer time scales whenever I'm getting ready for a trip to the stadium or shooting any video.

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