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07-12-2013, 12:11 AM
CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs, who waited decades to install lights at Wrigley Field and have waited more than a century to win a World Series, took a giant step toward ending the wait for something every other team in the majors already has: a Jumbotron.
The city's landmarks commission, which must sign off on such plans because Wrigley is a city landmark, approved a plan Thursday to allow the team to build a first-ever electronic Jumbotron and other sign above the ivy-covered outfield walls. It did so despite objections from the local alderman, who said the signs would harm the quality of life in the neighborhood, and rooftop owners, who complained the signs will cut into their views and devastate their businesses.
The full City Council still must give its approval. Traditionally in such zoning and development issues, the other aldermen vote the way the local alderman wants. But the tradition of doing what the mayor wants is even stronger, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel clearly wants this deal to go through.
In addition, the decision might have moved the Cubs and the city a step closer to a courtroom. The rooftop owners stopped short of threatening a lawsuit, as they have done in the past, but during the hearing they talked about the tens of millions of dollars they invested in their businesses after signing their own revenue-sharing deal with the Cubs.
"They call it a see-through sign," rooftop owner Mark Schlenker said of the planned sign in right field. "I call it bankruptcy."
For his part, Ald. Tom Tunney focused on what the Jumbotron in left field would do to the neighborhood and asked the commission to imagine what a Jumbotron that is far bigger than the iconic scoreboard in center field would mean to residents right across the street.
The deal would allow the Cubs to erect a 5,700-square-foot Jumbotron in left field of the 99-year-old ball park and a 650-square-foot sign in right field.
http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/i...-jumbotron
The city's landmarks commission, which must sign off on such plans because Wrigley is a city landmark, approved a plan Thursday to allow the team to build a first-ever electronic Jumbotron and other sign above the ivy-covered outfield walls. It did so despite objections from the local alderman, who said the signs would harm the quality of life in the neighborhood, and rooftop owners, who complained the signs will cut into their views and devastate their businesses.
The full City Council still must give its approval. Traditionally in such zoning and development issues, the other aldermen vote the way the local alderman wants. But the tradition of doing what the mayor wants is even stronger, and Mayor Rahm Emanuel clearly wants this deal to go through.
In addition, the decision might have moved the Cubs and the city a step closer to a courtroom. The rooftop owners stopped short of threatening a lawsuit, as they have done in the past, but during the hearing they talked about the tens of millions of dollars they invested in their businesses after signing their own revenue-sharing deal with the Cubs.
"They call it a see-through sign," rooftop owner Mark Schlenker said of the planned sign in right field. "I call it bankruptcy."
For his part, Ald. Tom Tunney focused on what the Jumbotron in left field would do to the neighborhood and asked the commission to imagine what a Jumbotron that is far bigger than the iconic scoreboard in center field would mean to residents right across the street.
The deal would allow the Cubs to erect a 5,700-square-foot Jumbotron in left field of the 99-year-old ball park and a 650-square-foot sign in right field.
http://espn.go.com/chicago/mlb/story/_/i...-jumbotron
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