CITY HALL — The Cubs won approval for a reduced number of bleacher signs in their Wrigley Field renovation Thursday to clear the way for a major federal tax break.
The Cubs made the changes at the request of the U.S. National Park Service and will become eligible for a 20 percent tax credit associated with Wrigley being a National Historic Landmark, worth an estimated $75 million.
The Commission on Chicago Landmarks approved the changes by a 6-1 vote, even as acting Chairman James Houlihan warned the Cubs that any perceived "bullying" on additional sign changes would be "poorly received" by the commission and Ald. Tom Tunney (44th).
The changes suggested by the National Park Service were minor. The Cubs will switch one Jumbotron sign with a script sign in right field and remove a sign in left-center field, in order to emphasize what Assistant Commissioner Eleanor Gorski called the "sweep and contour" of the center-field scoreboard and the bleachers.
The Cubs are also installing elevators in the right- and left-field bleachers to create additional wheelchair seating.
Other changes were even smaller, such as a slight enlargement of the "knothole gate" in right field, although Gorski warned that in the second phase of the Wrigley rehab after next season there "could be conditions where the wall needs to be rebuilt" if "the ivy is pulled off and it literally crumbles."
Gorski said that, in making changes to the knothole gate, the Cubs recently noticed that "the condition was found to be bad" for the bricks under the ivy. "We anticipate there will be some serious condition issues," she added.
The Cubs' renovation consultant Steve Jacobsen, however, said all efforts would be made to preserve the ivy when it's taken off the walls, as was the case last year. "We currently have the same ivy growing in greenhouses," he added, just in case the team needs to replant any segments of the outfield wall. "The procedure we have in place is working well," he said.
Gorski recommended that a commissioner make regular trips to monitor the process.
"I'd like to volunteer for ivy duty," said Commissioner Mary Ann Smith, a former alderman.
Yet Smith also pressed the Cubs to release how much they were earning from "special events" like concerts. Team representatives declined, and Houlihan and Commissioner Andrew Mooney, head of the Department of Planning and Development, said it wasn't pertinent, but Smith insisted the team had argued it needed added revenue with the signs, and that it was relevant.
In the end, in spite of her eagerness to serve as ivy monitor, Smith cast the only vote against approval.
Tunney submitted a statement calling one fewer sign "a step in the right direction," but added, "I still do not feel that the large signs are in keeping with the character of the historic ballpark or the neighborhood."
Tom Moore, attorney for rooftop owners who've filed suit saying their views will be obstructed by the new signs, repeated arguments that the city's own ordinance citation for Wrigley Field as a landmark emphasized the "uninterrupted" view of the surrounding neighborhood.
"Interrupted by six signs simply does not mean 'uninterrupted,'" Moore said.
Moore charged the Cubs were buying rooftop buildings and that the signs were moved to obstruct buildings where the owners are holding out. Cubs spokesman Julian Green denied that.
Thomas Ozog, owner of the Sheffield Avenue building known for cheeky Miller Lite signs, likewise argued in favor of the "uninterrupted sweep" of a view without outfield signs. "Maybe it's time to retire the name Wrigley Field, because it will not be the same place," he added.
Neighborhood resident David Dalka chided the Cubs by paraphrasing the Humpty Dumpty nursery rhyme, saying, "All the kings horses and all the kinds men won't ever put Wrigley Field back together again."
Yet both Gorski and the Cubs emphasized that the rehab is already underway and that the first phase is expected to be finished in time for Opening Day in April.
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 iconic team.
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