Wrigley Field Renovation: Chicago Cubs Stadium Will Be Missing Historic Bleachers at Beginning of Season

Chicago's Wrigley Field is perhaps the most iconic stadium in the United States, with a legitimate claim to G.O.A.T. status over other all-time venues such as Boston's Fenway Park, Green Bay's Lambeau Field and Los Angeles's Rose Bowl.

It has provided the Chicago Cubs baseball team with a home since 1916, but did not experience any drastic renovations until nearly a century later in 2014, when the team finally broke ground to fix up the crumbling structure.

The current renovations mean Wrigley will be without its most signature seating area — the outfield bleachers — until May 11, more than a month after the new season begins.

From ESPN Chicago's Jon Greenberg:

Bleacher season-ticket holders, which make up about 2,000 seats, have three options for the 15 games prior to May 11, according to Cubs vice president of sales and partnerships Colin Faulkner: full refunds, account credits or relocation to other seats. For fans who don't respond to the Cubs by the end of January, account credit is the default option.

Cubs president of business operations Crane Kenney obviously does not want to sacrifice safety or aesthetics just to be ready by opening night April 5 against the hated St. Louis Cardinals.

"We're going to do it right," Kenney said. "If we miss the month of April, we do."

He added: "We're rebuilding a 100-year-old facility, there's going to be inconveniences for everybody. It's just a reality."

But good news for Cubs fans who have missed out on the postseason for six straight years: They are likely to have a much better baseball team this season. New manager Joe Maddon and new pitcher Jon Lester already have supporters believing they can end a 107-year championship drought.

And if everything falls apart as usual, they still get a Foo Fighters concert in August.

Tags

MLB, Chicago cubs