Chicago City Council approves plan for major security upgrade at Wrigley Field
The Chicago City Council on Wednesday approved a $32.1 million plan to upgrade security at and around Wrigley Field.
The package calls for "anti-terrorism rated security bollards" to be installed around the ballpark, and for sidewalks on Addison Street to be widened by four feet.
The project will receive $10 million in city funding and $12 million in state funding. The Cubs will have to pay at least $8 million, and cover any cost overruns.
Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th), whose ward includes Wrigley Field, said earlier this week that he hopes the security plan will help the Cubs get approval from Major League Baseball to host a future All-Star Game.
Antonio White is a peanut vendor who has worked across from the Wrigley Field marquee for 25 years. He has seen every fence, blockade, and police enforcement measure used to keep fans safe.
But now there will be bollards put up all around Wrigley Field under the new city ordinance.
"I knew it was coming," White said. "We had barriers when they won the World Series."
Security experts said the anchored-down cylinders are used at public event spaces across the country to prevent vehicular attacks.
The experts said such bollards could, for instance, have stopped a car from plowing through a Chicago protest against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in downtown Chicago last week.
The bollards could also have prevented an attack in which a pickup truck plowed through Bourbon Street in New Orleans early on New Year's morning and killed 14 people, and an incident in which a man plowed a car into a Liverpool Football Club trophy parade in Liverpool, England, and left more than two dozen people injured on May 26, experts said.
"It is surprising that they would not have them by now," said Matthew Doherty.
Doherty works in risk management, and has assessed Wrigley Field before.
"Baseball parks, in coordination with the Department of Homeland Security, have made it a standard recommendation to have vehicle bollards, to have these bollards put in place," Doherty said.
The new ordinance would also widen Addison Street alongside the ballpark by four feet. With the security measures in place, there is hope that Wrigley Field could host an All-Star game in the future.
After the ordinance passed the City Council Wednesday, the Cubs sent a statement that read:
<blockquote>"The Chicago Cubs thank Mayor Johnson's administration, Ald. Bennett Lawson and the Chicago City Council, as well as Gov. Pritzker for partnering to enhance the safety of the entire neighborhood and the three million fans who visit Wrigley Field each year. From day one, the Ricketts family has committed to being good neighbors to the city and our neighborhood, and this security investment is the latest example of that pledge."</blockquote>
The Cubs said next, they will find who will oversee the project. It will cost the city, state, and team $32 million in total, and require fewer officers around the ballpark.
And that's a win, a "W," to keep everyone at Wrigley safe.
