So it turns out that somebody actually can say “no” to Chicago Cubs owner Tom Ricketts: The National Park Service’s qualms about okaying $75 million in preservation tax credits for a renovation that would add a ton of ad signage to Wrigley Field have now reportedly forced Ricketts to adjust some of his plans, eliminating one ad board and shrinking and relocating another:
In addition to reducing the number of proposed signs from seven to six, the Cubs plan to switch the location of the right field video scoreboard with that of a script sign that was to be located behind the Budweiser patio in the right-field bleachers, the source said. That person added that the Cubs also have agreed to reduce the size of the right-field video board but did not provide the exact size of the scoreboard.
The Cubs removed a proposed sign that would have been placed between the new left field video scoreboard and the iconic center field scoreboard, the source said.
So in this rendering, that would mean eliminating the sign that says “Cubs,” and switching the “Cardinals vs. Cubs” sign with the “Wrigley Field” one. (Not that any of these signs will say anything so noncommercial — they’ll all be corporate logos, except the video screen on the odd moments when it’s actually showing game info.) That’s not a huge concession by any means, and whether it’s the difference between a spot on the National Register of Historic Places and not seems kind of silly, but at least it’s still more than the Chicago Landmarks Commission got in exchange for its approval.
I guess I just never understood properly what “preservation” means… silly me.
I imagine this means that “preserving” Yellowstone could include proposing the installation of gigantic super-bright video boards on every tree, then scaling back the proposal to just having slightly less gigantic boards on every other tree and still no room for actual wildlife etc.
Good work, NPS.