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Wrigley Field Construction Update: March 19

You will be very pleased about one part of this update in particular.

By Al Yellon
  • Looking north on Clark from Addison - David Sameshima
  • Construction fence on Clark Street, in front of the former McDonald's property - David Sameshima
  • Concrete truck cutting through traffic, at Clark and Addison. Note the car in the left turn lane, to the right of the truck - David Sameshima
  • Construction fence along the alley, to the west of the former McDonald's property - David Sameshima
  • The plaza building, viewed from Clark Street - David Sameshima
  • Construction fence on Clark Street, in front of the former McDonald's property - David Sameshima
  • New iron work along the west side of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • A view of the new west gate plaza entrance being built, on the west side of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • The Clark Street side of the front of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • A closer look at the new iron work along the west side of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • Concrete being delivered to an upper level, in front of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • Another view of the west gate plaza entrance being constructed - David Sameshima
  • The front of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • Bike tour group passing in front of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • The Clark Street sidewalk, across from the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • Concrete being transferred up, into the ballpark, on the Clark Street side - David Sameshima
  • The Clark Street Sports tent store being taken down. This is on Clark Street, just north of Patterson Avenue - David Sameshima
  • Construction fences going up, around the former Clark Street Sports tent store - David Sameshima
  • AT&T utility trucks at the corner of Clark and Waveland - David Sameshima
  • Utility crew packing up, at the corner of Clifton and Waveland - David Sameshima
  • View looking at the new broadcast center building, with the plaza building in the background - David Sameshima
  • The east side of the broadcast center building - David Sameshima
  • The northeast corner of the plaza building - David Sameshima
  • Painter working on the west side of the ballpark, above the groundskeeper's cottage - David Sameshima
  • Gate K/J, on Waveland Avenue - David Sameshima
  • Forms for concrete staircase being built, in front of the groundskeeper's cottage - David Sameshima
  • Seats reinstalled in the upper deck, in front of the pressbox - David Sameshima
  • Most of the Waveland Avenue sidewalk, outside of the bleachers, has been reopened - David Sameshima
  • Billy Williams is the first plaque name listed, at the west end of Waveland Avenue - David Sameshima
  • Yosh Kawano is at the "ballhawk corner", at Waveland and Kenmore - David Sameshima
  • The tarps have been removed, underneath the scoreboard - David Sameshima
  • The bleacher gate is still fenced off - David Sameshima
  • The back of the center field bleachers - David Sameshima
  • The exposed concrete underneath the scoreboard has "finally" been painted over - David Sameshima
  • Work still in progress, at the bleacher gate - David Sameshima
  • Contractors working at Gate Q, on Waveland Avenue - David Sameshima
  • The Addison Street side of the front of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • Another view of the Addison Street side of the front of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • The front of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • The west side of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • Another look at the iron work, along the west side - David Sameshima
  • Security company guarding the former McDonald's property. This is not Cubs property, but owned by another Ricketts family company - David Sameshima
  • The front of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • Another view of the front of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • The Clark Street side of the front the ballpark, where the ticket windows are located - David Sameshima
  • A peek at the McDonald's rubble - David Sameshima
  • Another look at the McDonald's rubble - David Sameshima
  • More McDonald's rubble - David Sameshima
  • Wider look at the McDonald's rubble - David Sameshima
  • Garage door bays, on the west side of the broadcast building - David Sameshima
  • Utility hookups for the broadcast trucks, along the north end of the broadcast lot. Note the bumper posts to protect the utility boxes - David Sameshima
  • The west side of the broadcast building - David Sameshima
  • Under the left-field corner of the bleachers - David Sameshima
  • Another view underneath the left-field corner of the bleachers - David Sameshima
  • The east end of the Waveland Avenue sidewalk, in front of the bleacher gate - David Sameshima
  • Gate D area at Addison and Sheffield - David Sameshima
  • Tarp removed from underneath the scoreboard - David Sameshima
  • Supplies stacked outside of Gate D - David Sameshima
  • Looking west along the Addison Street side of the ballpark - David Sameshima

BCB's David Sameshima visited Wrigley Field Saturday and filed this report.

Since my last visit, I think quite a bit has changed. The McDonald's is finally "down". Besides more of the west side iron work being exposed, they are now painting. The Clark Street Sports tent store is now gone. I had a good look at the broadcast building, and the truck hookup facilities in that lot. They are building the stairs to the groundskeeper's cottage. The seats have been reinstalled in the upper deck, underneath the press box. Most of the fences along the Waveland Avenue sidewalk have been removed, so the paver bricks are now accessible. The ballhawk corner (Waveland and Kenmore) is where Yosh Kawano's name is located. The tarps underneathe the scoreboard has been removed. Finally, the exposed concrete under the scoreboard has finally been painted. [Emphasis added.]

Yes. You asked for it, and you got it. The concrete panel that had rust stains on it throughout the construction last year has been painted green. The best views are photos 33 and 34. I suspect this is one of the last things on the bleacher "punch list" and that means the bleacher portion of the renovation project is nearly complete.

Mike Bojanowski also visited Wrigley Field Saturday, and has some different views. I'll have his photoset here tomorrow.

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