BCB’s Mike Bojanowski headed over to Wrigley Field Sunday afternoon and sent me the photos above, along with this report on what he saw:
These photos were taken in the late afternoon Sunday, January 15, a slow time of day for the project. There was only limited work actually in progress at this time. From the street, only small increments are usually visible. Perhaps the most interesting current views from the street are of the new plaza building, now nearing outward completion. For all that, there are still a few corners that are only now beginning to be built, and the future clock tower is still merely a skeleton.
Perhaps it's because I sit right next to it every day during the season, but to me personally the biggest "eyesore" at Wrigley has been the rather crude and unadorned vertical girder (photo 6) that for years has acted as the left-field anchorage for the backstop screens. It sticks out like the proverbial — well — I'll leave it to you to provide the metaphor. And it distracts from the foul pole. Never could figure why it wasn't possible to anchor that side of the netting to the corner of the upper deck, as is done in right field. Since the demolition of the home plate seating, it is not, at the moment, an anchorage for anything. I'd love to see it go down.
It is, as of today, 84 days (12 weeks) until the Cubs meet the Dodgers April 10 in the home opener. With mild weather forecast for the rest of this week (the Cubs have been quite lucky most of the winter being able to work in reasonable weather), they should be able to proceed at a good pace. I don’t see any reason they won’t be finished with everything that needs to be done by April 10 (save the concession areas near Gate F mentioned at the convention, that might not be complete till May or June).
We’ll have more photos as the winter proceeds.