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Cubs Say They 'Missed The Mark' With Opening Day Bathroom Fail

By Ariel Cheung | April 6, 2015 10:18am
 Cubs fans at Wrigley Field on Opening Night 2015.
Cubs fans at Wrigley Field on Opening Night 2015.
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Getty Images/Jonathan Daniel

WRIGLEY FIELD — While the Cubs' 3-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals was a painful enough Opening Day, the bathroom lines might have been even worse, according to fans on social media.

With ongoing construction at Wrigley Field, some bathrooms were out of commission and others were temporarily shut down due to flooding.

"Opening Day at Wrigley Field has always brought challenges with restroom wait times, and last night was particularly extreme. With 35,000 fans showing up in the ballpark, we were simply not prepared to handle guests during peak periods." said Julian Green, Cubs vice president of communications and community affairs.

One fan told Deadspin that people resorted to peeing in cups due to lines that stretched a block long and took 30 minutes to get through.

 

Green said two bathrooms in the upper deck were temporarily out-of-order, forcing fans to head to the already crowded downstairs restrooms.

The Cubs "missed the mark last night," Green said, apologizing for the "huge inconvience." The team will bring in additional portable units for future games and will monitor wait times, he said.

The lines were so long that the inventor of the Stadium Pal — essentially a catheter hooked to an IV bag — suggested fans could have used his product.

The Wrigley Field renovation, when it's done, will increase the number of restrooms by 40 percent, the Cubs have said. But the well-known troughs are going to stay. The new bathrooms will also have them, team officials said.

The waits were similar to those when the renovated Soldier Field opened in 2003. Despite the Chicago Bears' pledge to modernize and increase the number of restrooms, the wait for the men's rooms at times could be horrendous. Fans complained about the lines so much some women's rooms are now converted to men's rooms for games.

Aside from the bathroom issues, most Cubs fans DNAinfo spoke to Sunday were happy with the Wrigley overhauls.

"As long as they keep the bricks, do it. I love this video screen," said Julie Premer, a 53-year-old Batavia resident who said she's been a Cubs die-hard since age 11.

"I hope they have this done by September," Premer added. "I plan to come to another game then."

The Cubs and Wrigley Field are 95 percent owned by a trust established for the benefit of the family of Joe Ricketts, owner and CEO of DNAinfo.com. Joe Ricketts has no direct involvement in the management of the team.