When
I read today that the City of Chicago had reached an agreement with the Chicago
Cubs owners, the uber Ricketts family to renovate the iconic Wrigley Field,
part of my reaction was relief that we did not have to read more about it, or
hear the defensive posture of Tom Tunney as he hunkered down to protect his
base, but when I read, in the ubiquitous Chicago Sun-Times that the Cubs “application
for a Class L property tax break for Wrigley”, my reaction turned from relief
to anger, as the thought for the very wealthy Ricketts family getting a break
while over 30 schools in low-income neighborhoods were closing because of our
city’s cash-strapped budget.
I
also felt, much like Chicago Teacher’s Union that a successor must be found for
this mayor, whose political chutzpah seems to exceed even that of his legendary
predecessor, Richard Daly.
While
Mayor Emanuel has said that he has the responsibility to bring the city budget
from bleeding red-ink, into solvency, and that school closings were a necessary
part; to hand the Ricketts thousands, if not millions, of dollars in tax relief
seems immoral, as we hear of concerned parents and children whose children will
have to travel great distances, often in gang infested territory to get to
their new schools, my stomach churned.
And,
then I thought back to the late 80s and the area around Wrigley, New Town, as
we called it then, with Wrigley Field serving as an anchor to a gently aging neighborhood
with its brick townhomes, and neighborly feel.
Now,
all that is to be changed, and despite crowd annoyances (I cleaned the beer
cans from my lawn after every night game) of that era, the surrounding area will be transformed from a true
neighborhood to a McVille replete with hotels, rides, more night games, more souvenir
shops, more lights, more noise and the onslaught of electronic billboards,
making what was once a space for all of Chicagoland to gather, to one that is solely
centered on profit, and profit only; much to the detriment of a social space,
and a time-honored game.
As
a former sportswriter I can well appreciate the atmosphere of a game, and the
need to keep the enjoyment constant, but this wholesale foot-on-the neck
approach by the Ricketts and the complicity of the mayor makes me, as my godsons
would say, just shake my head.
Wrigley
we hardly knew ya.
