BCB’s David Sameshima visited Wrigley Field Saturday, March 30 and filed this report:
I was able to visit Wrigley during the late afternoon, on Saturday. At the time, the temperature had significantly dropped and the winds also picked up. There was little visible work taking place outside.
I was surprised when I looked toward the players parking lot, and saw the structure that had been put up. The structure seemed to be more permanent than temporary. I will have to go back through my files, to see what the structures have looked like in the past.
There’s one other thing I wanted to mention to all of you, and that’s in regard to the discussion that’s taken place in many of these construction updates about the right-field corner and how the various things built there don’t seem to “match.”
This is because... essentially, that’s how they were built, three different areas (bleacher patio, stadium club and the field box cross aisle). A Cubs official told me that those are at different elevations, all about 18-20 inches different. So they couldn’t be matched because basically, the Cubs are putting new things into a place that wasn’t designed for such things. Also, if you have walked around the ballpark, you know that the elevation actually goes down from the west end to the east end, even though the field itself is level. You can see this best if you walk east down Waveland and look at how the bleacher wall declines over the block from Seminary Avenue toward Sheffield Avenue.
The elevator in the right field corner has been constructed to get people to the field box level, where there are new ADA locations. There are 25 new ADA locations within the ballpark, good news for people who need that type of seating.
Hope that clears up this mystery.
The home opener is one week from today!