08/9/2010

The Wrigley field stadium has a very rich history.
Today I had the honor of meeting the author of the article “REVAMPED STADIUM . . . NEW
NEIGHBORHOOD?” Larry Bennett.
It was a very nice experience meeting him; I learned so many things about the Lakeview neighborhood, as well as the “Wrigley Ville” neighborhood.
Wrigley field is located in the Lakeview neighborhood, Lakeview was settled in the 19th century.
I also learned a bit more about Chicago. I was very impressed by Larry. He seemed to know a lot about Chicago and its history; he gave us a lot of interesting facts about Chicago that I did not know.
Something that I thought about is how many interesting new things I keep learning every single time I go to class, just when I think I know everything about the city; I find something new about it.
Chicago has a very rich history, a very dark one, but it also has a very interesting a nice one as well.
During the 19th century, Lakeview was not part of Chicago. The area were Wrigley Ville is located is mainly a middle class neighborhood.
Something very interesting is that the topic of gentrification just keeps coming up on almost every tour. Gentrification is a huge part of our city and it’s been taking place for years and is still affecting communities today.
Lakeview was gentrified in the last twenty years.




Wrigley field opened its doors in 1914 and was formerly called “Wigman Park”
It was also known as the “Cubs Park”, then William Wrigley Jr. bought the Cubs team in the 1920s and the park became known as “Wrigley field”
When the ballpark opened, there was a big controversy because the people from the neighborhood did not want the stadium there. They said that it would bring a lot of noise and unwanted guests, that it would disturb the neighborhoods peace.
Time passed by and eventually the residents got used to the stadium.
The Lakeview area however, is known to have big community activism. So every time there were changes made to the park, usually there was a big deal about it.
When the lights were added to the field, it created a huge problem. The people from the area completely refused to accept the fact that now there would be games taking place at night.

The residents were very irritated by the addition of lights to the stadium because they thought that the neighborhood would always be noisy and crazy people would be around all the time.
Personally, I think that the addition of these lights was a very bright idea.
The games at night did bring much more noise, but at the same time it did bring a lot of money to the neighborhood as well.
When you think about it, the cubs are a very successful baseball team.
Not only are they a team, The Chicago Cubs are a business, Many taverns, sports bars and “party homes” as well as pretty much every business around the Wrigley field, depend on the cubs to stay in business.
When ever there are games, these bars are packed with people who go to watch the games.
The stadium essentially has given the Lakeview area a unique characteristic.
And even though it has its downs, it has also contributed to the area a lot because it has kept peoples business running and many people depend on the field to make a living.
Today we talked about a new project that was approved by the city council.
The project consists of building an 8 story hotel right in front of Wrigley field. This means that the small businesses that are located right across the street from the field would have to be relocated or shut down.
The plan is to build several stores in the hotel, a home depot or a pharmacy or a grocery store.
In my opinion this idea is a waste of time. I think that a home depot would not serve any purpose being located right in front of the baseball field. People are not going to go buy their lumber and their garden supplies before they go watch the game.
There are plenty of pharmacies all around the city, too many I would say so that would not be a good idea either.
A food store would definitely be a bad idea because people probably don’t want to go grocery shopping when they have to go through crowds of baseballs fans just to be able to get in the store.
Overall today made me think about so many things. We have so many bad neighborhoods in our city that do not even have a home depot anywhere nearby, neighborhood where they have to go across the city to find a pharmacy or a grocery store.
In a way it bothered me to hear that the city had a new proposal for a hotel to be built somewhere where its not needed, when there’s areas all around the city where this money could be invested in to better Chicago’s neighborhoods.
I really enjoyed today because I got to learn more about one of the nearby areas from where I live and I got to meet Larry. I also learned how one major business can have an impact on an entire neighborhood and the smaller businesses surrounding it.