WRIGLEYVILLE — The Cubs are seeking the OK to serve beer and wine year-round at their proposed plaza on the Clark Street side of Wrigley Field.
Ald. Tom Tunney (44th) submitted an ordinance this week creating a new liquor license category for a "sports plaza" adjacent to a 30,000-seat stadium. The Cubs have included the plaza in their plan for the Wrigley Field renovation, and have plans to let it play host to a farmers' market in warmer months and ice skating in the winter.
The ordinance would create a new "Sports Plaza Venue" liquor license, available at a cost of $1,760. It would restrict liquor sales to beer and wine, from the hours of 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. (midnight on Friday and Saturday), and the plaza would have to have boundaries at least 125 feet from any residential building.
Although tailored to the Cubs' desires, it would also allow similar plazas at U.S. Cellular Field and Soldier Field. But the applications would be minimal there, as those stadiums do not have the off-season foot traffic Wrigley Field does.
"At this stage [we] are looking into the proposal and how it could impact White Sox fans," said Sox spokesman Scott Reifert.
If passed, the ordinance would take effect Feb. 2, in time for next baseball season. Yet Cub spokesman Julian Green cautioned that, like the rest of the Wrigley rehab, it's not going anywhere until the Cubs receive assurances from rooftop owners that they won't be subject to lawsuits resulting from the renovation project.
"We don't plan to proceed with Wrigley Field construction until we resolve our issues with the rooftops," Green said.
