Seattle was perfectly happy to blow up The Kingdome after less than 30 years. In Chicago, Wrigley Field is finally starting to show signs of age after 90 years (they built ballparks better back then). As the saga unfolds, Mayor Richard J. Daley continues to accuse The Chicago Tribune of bias in covering the alarming falling chunks of concrete at the home of the eternally bumbling Chicago Cubs.

The paper's parent corporation also owns the ball team. And the headline in the above-linked Trib story (free reg. req.) doesn't exactly undermine his assertion. It seems to try hard to rebut the first expert quoted. He says:

"Falling concrete is not a good sign," said Sidney Guralnick, a professor of civil engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, who is not involved in the inspections of Wrigley. "These things happen. (Stadiums) are not immortal. Nothing that man touches is immortal."

The Trib headline writer sees it quite a bit more hopefully: "Wrigley's woes not uncommon - Others, like Yankee Stadium have had similar probems, but are back in business after repairs." Yes. And others still, like, oh, The Chicago White Sox's Comiskey Park, were torn down after structural risks became too great.

Sooner of later, Wrigley will indeed go the way of all mortal flesh. And then the politics will really start. I used to live a few blocks away, and on game nights, good luck finding a parking spot. (In case you're wondering, many North Side Chicago renters who eschew high-rises must depend on street parking because monthly garage costs can approach half-again your rent).

Parking problems and rowdy behavior of beered-up fans have both fed organized resistance from Wrigley-weary neighborhood groups. Adding to the carnival atmosphere, some cads in six-flats across the street from the park were selling seats on their roofs. Plus the stadium's small capacity must be an ongoing concern for the Tribune Corporation.

Building the inevitably larger, louder and more garish on-site replacement would provoke a bitter political conflict, one I suspect the owners would rather avoid.

When the White Sox destroyed Comiskey, they chose to build anew right next door. But I don't see that happening, when Wrigley's time comes.

Instead there may one day be a new suburban stadium for The Cubs, or, if the NIMBY protests are too great (as was the case with a proposed suburban facility for the White Sox in the 80s), maybe the Cubs will move to Fort Meyers. Or Phoenix, where there are more retired Chicagoans per capita than about anywhere else on earth. (Many are die-hard Cub fans, and the team holds spring training right next door in Scottsdale).

Just remember, you read it first at Rosenblog.

Posted by Matt Rosenberg at July 25, 2004 08:50 PM

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