Wrigley Field construction update: A special look inside

The photo at the top of this post was taken January 31 at Wrigley Field, so it’s a couple of weeks old.

Still, this photo should give you an idea of how they are progressing with the restoration of the seating bowl and also where the new dugouts are going to be located. Here’s a look at the ballpark taken Wednesday by the @WrigleyAerials photographer, Curtis Waltz:

There’s quite a bit more information in this cubs.com article, which notes that the expanded netting that all 30 major-league teams are installing for this season will be in place both at Wrigley Field and at Sloan Park in Mesa. When I go to the first game at Sloan Park nine days from now, I’ll be sure to take some photos of that area.

In that article there’s also a photo of the work being done on the 1914 Club, which is scheduled to open this year. If the ceilings seem very high there, remember that last year when the Cubs did the original preparatory work for this club, they made a large excavation that went considerably below grade. You can see how deep that excavation was, as well as some of the pillars visible in that cubs.com article, in this @WrigleyAerials photo from January 2017:

Lastly, here are some comments from Carl Rice, Cubs VP of Wrigley Field restoration and expansion, on some of the infrastructure work being done:

“A big part of the improvements was about improving the electrical grid, the sewer system, the gas lines, the problems we had with flooding,” Rice said. “At this stage, we’re really conquering a whole lot of issues.”

They’ve significantly improved the power grid at the ballpark, too.

”Now what we’ve done is made it so Wrigley Field is no longer on life support,” Rice said. “It has enough of a distribution system from the power grid, the water grid, people’s gas, to support itself.”

Opening Day at Wrigley Field, April 9, is 53 days away.

Thanks to Alyson Cohen of the Cubs for graciously granting permission for me to use the photo at the top of this post.