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Mar 5, 2008 10:06 am US/Central
Daley Doesn't Want Wrigley Landmark Status Relaxed
Zell Wants Status Relaxed For Renovations
CHICAGO (STNG) ―
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"I'm a White Sox fan. I'm not going to say, 'We're going to change Wrigley Field.' That would be the end of me," Mayor Daley said.
CBS
Mayor Richard M. Daley on Tuesday gave the cold shoulder to the idea of relaxing Wrigley Field's landmark status -- and forfeiting 30 years of sales tax growth tied to a Wrigley renovation -- to finance an overhaul of the 94-year-old shrine of Major League Baseball.
Daley noted that Wrigley's historic elements were landmarked in 2004 after years of contentious negotiations with the Cubs that paved the way for the team to phase in 12 more night games.
Now Tribune Co. CEO Sam Zell wants to relax the landmark status as part of his plan to have the state acquire and renovate Wrigley. And Zell wants to enhance the value of the Cubs before selling the team by adding "a few" more night games. The agreement that paved the way for the current 30 night games per season expires in 2016.
Daley is not too keen on the idea.
"I'm not going to be the mayor saying, 'OK, we're going to relax on the historic aspect of Wrigley Field. Mayor Daley says it'll be torn down.' That'll be a great headline for the Sun-Times. I'm not going to do that. You're not going to get that from me…I'm a White Sox fan. I'm not going to say, 'We're going to change Wrigley Field.' That would be the end of me," Daley said.
The mayor said he doesn't buy the argument that Wrigley can't be modernized and turned into a "productive ballpark" without lifting landmark status. The designation didn't stand in the way of a 1,791-seat bleacher expansion.
"You can't put new washrooms in? You can't put new seats in?...You have to find out what they're going to change," the mayor said.
"I didn't say flat no. But I don't know why we're rushing to this…Why don't we keep real priorities."
The mayor was equally cool to the idea of forfeiting 30 years of sales tax growth tied to the Wrigley renovation to help pay for the stadium remodeling.
Cubs Chairman Crane Kenney argued that the landmark designation was approved to protect the ballpark at a time when Wrigley was privately owned.
"If we conclude a transaction with [the state], the stadium will be owned by an organization controlled by the governor and the mayor and landmark protection may not be necessary," he said.
(Source: Sun-Times News Group Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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