Bleacher Reconstruction Update - March 20

by Al Yellon on Mar 20, 2006 8:57 AM CST in 2005-06 Bleacher Reconstruction Project

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona -- Just because I'm in Arizona, doesn't mean the top-notch BCB Photo Team isn't there documenting the bleacher reconstruction.

David took these photos around noon Saturday, March 18; you can see that things are getting close to completion. They're going to have to be -- the place opens for business in 18 days!

I'll post a game thread later today.

Top: view of the new stairs, in the far left field corner. Note the brick wall being built, to enclose the base of the stairs; update for the ballhawks. View from the center of Kenmore; top of the new left field bleachers. Note the opening for the aisle, on the left side of this photo; Vaveland Ave. side, below the left field bleachers, looking west. Note the new sidewalk.

Middle: Waveland Ave. view of the left field bleachers, looking east; bleacher entrance area, viewed from Waveland, looking south; Sheffield Ave side view of the emergency exit/employee access stairwell, in right field; empty dumpster being dropped off on Sheffield Ave.

Bottom: view of the gap between the new bleacher box seating area, and the main bleacher seating section; view of the knothole area, on Sheffield; view of the right field bleachers, from across Sheffield, looking north; another view looking north, on Sheffield.

Photos by David Sameshima

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Comments

Looking good...

The bleachers look like they are coming along nicely. Too bad I have to wait until may to check them out up close.

Oh well. Better than last year. I had to wait until July. I'm never doing that again.

by drone1047 @ Bleed Cubbie Blue on Mar 20, 2006 9:30 AM CST reply actions

The stairways

look a little funky but overall it looks pretty good.

by TR on Mar 20, 2006 10:56 AM CST reply actions

too bad

we couldn't get a decent rotation pieced together this fast.

by mike bornemann @ Bleed Cubbie Blue on Mar 20, 2006 11:53 AM CST reply actions

Looks like us CF's

may have to stretch to see LF. Not sure I am gonna like the new "club" in the bleachers.

Anyone can have a bad century...

by Kinky Reggae on Mar 20, 2006 2:50 PM CST reply actions

One thing that I don't like...

...is the large amount of concrete at the base of the new brick wall. You would think they could have made the base much shorter, and made the concrete line even, not rising and falling allong the wall.

It also looks like with the addition of the brick sidewalk that there is no room for the ivy, unless it will be in planter boxes covering up the concrete.

Great photos as always!

by stadiumguru on Mar 20, 2006 7:50 PM CST reply actions

Ivy

I think cooler, more practical heads prevailed, and management realized that ivy on the outer walls would be stripped bare by souvenir seekers faster than Bill Veeck's Chinese Elms were stripped by the lake breezes in 1938. Either that, or it occurred to them that the ivy would get no direct sunlight at all, and would literally die on the vine.

by Wahkeenah on Mar 20, 2006 9:55 PM CST up reply actions

It must be the former...

... given the fact that they even thought about doing it in the first place, I doubt they even thought about the direct sunlight problem.

by Al Yellon on Mar 20, 2006 10:36 PM CST up reply actions

looks good to me

from what i've seen of it, i think its going to be a pretty good change

by mem128 on Mar 21, 2006 6:05 PM CST reply actions

Yah.

As a historian, I hated to see the old 1914 wall and much of the 1937 bleacher structure go, but I must admit that (from the outside, at least) it looks fairly elegant, and although I don't like to admit it, the old wall was pretty scruffy looking, and the new bricks are much nicer. And the overhang will still give the homeless a place to seek shelter in a pinch. d:)

by Wahkeenah on Mar 21, 2006 8:47 PM CST up reply actions

Will the old turnstiles be reinstalled?

And will any of the old bricks be up for sale??

Well, Next Year is here .. and Jack's century's gotta end some time .. GO CUBBIES!

by cubnational on Mar 21, 2006 8:50 PM CST reply actions

Will the old turnstiles be reinstalled?

And will any of the old bricks be up for sale??

The last time I got to the bleachers was the last game of the year in 1979. I met some cool folks out there and they were so generous as to invite me to their end of season party at ol' Murphy's. I had to decline, but we had a whale of a time. That last 2 out ralley for the year - ay chihuahua, what a scream! Boy, old Kong almost gave us a ride on that last AB, didn't he? DANG IT ..

I joined the Navy a year later and got swept away out of things. I've since had to enjoy the Cubs where I could find them - in San Diego, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cincinatti .. but I've only been able to get back to Wrigley about 4 times since, in 1984 and 1990, and a few times in the past couple of years.

OH how I miss sweet home Chicago! Sometimes the Dying Cub Fan's last request about the ashes come to mind ..

Well, Next Year is here .. and Jack's century's gotta end some time .. GO CUBBIES!

by cubnational on Mar 21, 2006 8:56 PM CST reply actions

New Sound System

If you look at the pictures of the scoreboard, those 1950 style megaphones are no longer there. They were still visible in the last update. I think this means a new sound system is on the way, and we will finally be able to hear in the bleachers. Plus it looks better without those crummy speakers.

by cubsscoop on Mar 21, 2006 9:42 PM CST reply actions

Sound

I'm envisioning state-of-the-art, individual headphones at each bleacher seat, so you can tune in the public address system, or WGN radio coverage of the game, or air traffic controllers at O'Hare, or whatever strikes your fancy. d:)

by Wahkeenah on Mar 21, 2006 10:54 PM CST up reply actions

Man...

... you're dreaming.

Take a look at this photo in particular -- the poles are for the new speakers. These are on both the RF and LF sides.

by Al Yellon on Mar 21, 2006 11:05 PM CST up reply actions

Yep.

On reflection, the headphones aren't such a good idea. I don't think we need the Wrigley bleachers filled with thousands of Bartman lookalikes. Bad karma. d:)

by Wahkeenah on Mar 22, 2006 6:14 AM CST up reply actions