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Wrigley Field Construction Update: March 5

The retro wrought-iron fencing has made its first appearance.

By Al Yellon
  • 3:40 p.m. The corner of Clark and Addison, where the Cubs Store was located - David Sameshima
  • 3:41 p.m. A portion of the rooftop fencing, in the back of former McDonalds, was removed to allow rooftop mechanical equipment to be removed from the building - David Sameshima
  • 3:43 p.m. A view of the former McDonalds, with the plaza building in the background - David Sameshima
  • 3:46 p.m. Fencing now up, along Clark Street, in front of the former McDonalds - David Sameshima
  • 3:47 p.m. The north side of the former McDonalds - David Sameshima
  • 3:48 p.m. Fencing up along Patterson Avenue, on the north end of the former McDonalds property - David Sameshima
  • 3:51 p.m. The frame of the McDonalds sign still standing, at Clark and Patterson - David Sameshima
  • 3:52 p.m. The Clark Street view of the plaza building - David Sameshima
  • 3:54 p.m. The west side of the ballpark. A portion of the new ornamental wrought iron framework is visible in this photo - David Sameshima
  • 3:54 p.m. The Clark Street side of the front of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • 3:55 p.m. The front of the ballpark, at Clark and Addison - David Sameshima
  • 3:56 p.m. Another view of the front of the ballpark, at Clark and Addison - David Sameshima
  • 3:56 p.m. View looking northwest, from Clark and Addison, at the former McDonalds property - David Sameshima
  • 3:59 p.m. The frame of the McDonalds sign, on the Addison Street side, still standing - David Sameshima
  • 4:00 p.m. The parking lot where the Cubs Store was located - David Sameshima
  • 4:02 p.m. The front of the ballpark, where concrete has recently been poured - David Sameshima
  • 4:03 p.m. Another view looking north, in front of the ballpark, where concrete has recently been poured - David Sameshima
  • 4:03 p.m. View looking north, along Clark Street, from the front of the ballpark - David Sameshima
  • 4:03 p.m. A closer view looking north, along Clark Street, from the front of the ballpark - David Sameshima

BCB's David Sameshima went to Wrigley Field Saturday and filed this report:

I made a quick visit by Wrigley on Saturday. I mainly went to see if the former McDonalds was still standing. It was. There is now a very tall, maybe 12-foot, fence up around the former McDonalds property. A bright blue tarp is being attached to the fence. The blue tarp is not all the way around the property yet.I did not have much time, and it appeared that tarps were covering up everything around the ballpark. I just took some photos in front of the ballpark, around Clark and Addison. They did pour concrete in front of the main gate, Gate F. It was not until I got home when I noticed that one of my photos showed some of the new ornamental wrought iron fence along the west side of the park.

Photo 9 is where you can see the wrought iron, placed in just two spots on the west side of the park. Since they have begun on that side and the rest is still shrouded, I would expect they'd continue to install the wrought iron on the west side before Opening Night. Eventually this look will be on both sides of the park. It's quite attractive, in addition to restoring the look the park had in the 1930s.

Looking at photo 4, I can see some potential issues with large crowds. I'm not sure how long this fence will be up, but that makes the sidewalk on the west side of Clark Street extremely narrow. Once the McDonalds demolition is complete, perhaps this fence can be moved or removed.

We'll have more photos later in the week.

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