Since purchasing the Chicago Cubs baseball team and Wrigley Field in 2009, the Ricketts family have been pursuing an extensive renovation of the stadium and the surrounding venue. At its outset, the 1060 Project (so called after Wrigley Field's Addison Street address) was projected to cost $575 million and was to be completed in four phases during consecutive off-seasons. Funding was generated from advertising revenue and increased corporate sponsorship in the form of additional signage placed in and around the stadium.
History
The initial plan, revealed during the annual Cubs Convention in January 2013, called for a $575-million, privately funded rehabilitation of the stadium to be completed over the course of five years. The proposal included improvements to the stadium's facade, infrastructure, restrooms, concourses, suites, press box, bullpens, and clubhouses, as well as the addition of restaurants, patio areas, batting tunnels, a jumbotron, and an adjacent hotel, plaza, and office-retail complex.
Months of negotiations between the team, local Alderman Tom Tunney, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel occurred with the eventual endorsements of the city's Landmarks Commission and the Plan Commission and final approval by the Chicago City Council in July 2013.
Funding
Increased advertising signage, in and around the park, help to fund the four phases of the renovation. Before the renovation began, the majority of the rooftop club owners that surround the stadium felt that such signs would obstruct their sight-lines and render them out of business.
Wrigley rooftops
Prior to 1980, the rooftops provided a vantage point and were a gathering place for free views of the ongoing Cubs games. Since the observers were the residents of the buildings, a few dozen people watching from the flat rooftops and windows of the buildings, with "seating" consisting of a few folding chairs, there was little commercial impact on the Cubs. When the popularity of the Cubs began to rise in the 1980s, formal seating structures began to appear, and building owners began charging admission; Cubs management became concerned about lost revenue and controlling their copyrights. In 2002, the Cubs filed a lawsuit against various rooftops for copyright infringement. In 2004, 11 of the 13 roofs settled with the club, agreeing to pay 17% of gross revenue in exchange for official recognition through 2023. With the Cubs and the rooftop owners reaching agreement, many of the facilities erected permanent seating structures. By 2014, 15 of those buildings' structures that were once residential apartments had evolved into rooftop businesses with multi-level facilities.
Before work on the project began, the team attempted to head off legal action from rooftop owners by offering to reduce the size and number of signs to be built, in order to gain their assent. Unable to reach an agreement with the rooftop owners as renovations began, the Cubs said that they would pursue the original 2013 plan to modify the park. Although some rooftop owners pursued legal action, courts ruled against them. By 2018, the Ricketts family owned 11 of the rooftops, operating them as Wrigley Rooftops, LLC.
Beginning
The five-year renovation project, projected to cost $575 million, started as soon as the 2014 season was completed. Prior to the start of the 2015 season, both left and right field bleachers were expanded and the stadium was extended further onto both Waveland Avenue to the north and Sheffield Avenue to the east. Seven new outfield signs were installed along with a video scoreboard in right field. Construction was begun on new locker rooms and lounges to exist in an underground area that was excavated along Clark Street to the west. A Jumbotron was installed above the left field bleachers. It is topped with a sign advertising Rosemont-based Wintrust Financial, the Cubs' official banking partner. The "W" in Wintrust flashes after every Cubs home win.
Architectural team
In an effort to preserve the past while at the same time modernizing for the future, the Cubs engaged DAIQ Architects, a company with experience in modernizing Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Turner Field in Atlanta, Georgia. T. Gunny Harboe of Harboe Architects, a historic preservation architect who worked on the Rookery Building and Sullivan Center in the Chicago Loop, was selected to be the architect in charge of preserving the historic features and 1930s characteristics of the ballpark. VOA Associates, which helped design the new Navy Pier, provided construction drawings and Icon Venue Group is the project management company.