Wrigley Renovation Encloses Stadium

So much has been written about the loss of sight lines from the rooftops outside Wrigley that the bigger impact of the renovation has been little noticed... the enclosure of the bowl of the stadium from the viewpoint of the grandstands. Here's a screen capture from the video of last night's game with the Pirates.

You can see in this pic that the new concrete form of the expanded and heightened bleachers has been poured. Old Timers like me will also notice those openings at the top of the bleachers in left center field. These appear to be access openings for fans. I do not recall this feature existing in the old bleachers.

The view from the grandstands toward the outfield has been changed even more dramatically than the sightlines from the rooftops into the stadium. One of the odd features of pre-renovation Wrigley was that the skyline of the Gold Coast of the North Side stretched out like a huge panorama before people seated in the grandstands. 

Of course, you can't see that panorama in this pic because yesterday's game was played at night. In pre-renovation Wrigley, you could see the lights of the skyscraper apartment buildings along Lake Shore Drive and North Clark Street all the way to Evanston.

With the huge video board and the expanded bleachers closing off so much of the left field sightline from the perspective of the grandstand, Wrigley will become much more of an enclosed stadium bowl. From the perspective of theater, that means that Wrigley will become even more intimate, more like a self-contained studio or TV set.

I think that this must dramatically increase the pressure on the players from the crowd, which will have its eyes much more focused on the playing field. The video board is used mostly for presenting player at bat stats and replays.

This huge change in focus from within the stadium has not been much discussed. The bowl of the stadium will be much more of an enclosed space, with fewer outside structures visible beyond the outfield walls to distract the eyes of the crowd in the grandstands. From the standpoint of set design, this will have a huge and dynamic impact.

Wrigley Field is being changed in a very fundamental way in this renovation. The impact and consequences for players and spectators will only become apparent over time.