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Up On The Wrigley Roofs
Chicago Parrotheads will likely get their wish and permission to rent out rooftop eateries near Wrigley Field as
The only problem would seem to be those pesky sight lines, as the stage will face home plate and the famed rooftops are behind centerfield. Buffett fans will have to settle for looking at the back of the stage. But they don’t seem to mind, as long as they can hear the music and indulge in the rooftop revelry Cubs fans have enjoyed for many a summer.
Under a measure tentatively approved by Chicago aldermen June 22nd and waiting certain approval by the City Council, the rooftop owners will be able to rent out their spaces during the first-ever concert at Wrigley, the Chicago Sun-Times said.
According to city ordinances, the rooftops are usually open for business only during Cubs games. But for the Buffett shows, a group of rooftop owners asked the city for permission to rent out their spaces, as they are in high demand.
“We have more than 100 people on our waiting list,” Stacey Loukas of the Cubby Bear bar told the newspaper. The Cubby Bear runs two rooftops. “People have asked how the stage was going to be set up, but it really doesn’t matter to them.”
Alderman Tom Tunney, whose ward includes Wrigley Field and surrounding neighborhoods, told the Sun-Times that the Buffett concerts are part of “a one-time test pattern” that could generate up to $35 million in economic activity in the neighborhood.
To gain approval, the Cubs reportedly agreed to give up one night game next season and contribute $150,000 to schools in the Wrigleyville neighborhood. The rooftop owners as a group agreed to kick in an additional $25,000 for a public playground.