Celebrating 100 Years of Wrigley Field

Wrigley Field is a Chicago fixture. Home to the Chicago Cubs baseball team, Wrigley Field stands as a historical landmark and American cultural center in an iconic American city. Originally constructed in 1914 as Weeghman Park, it has been the official home of the Chicago Cubs since 1916. domain maps . From 1921-26, however, the ballpark was known as Cubs Park, before being renamed Wrigley Field after the chewing gum magnate and then club owner, William Wrigley Jr. translations . Wrigley Park stands as the oldest National League Park and the second oldest active Major League park, and it is the only professional ballpark with an ivy covered outfield wall.

2014 Centennial Celebrations

The 2014 season marks the centennial anniversary of Wrigley Field and will be commemorated through a display of the ten different decades of the stadium and team during ten homestands throughout the season. Wrigley Field has been a part of Chicago culture for a century–even though the home team, the Cubs, haven’t made an appearance in a World Series since 1945 and haven’t won a Series since 1908. The stadium transcends performance by the home club and remains as an important part of the history and culture of Chicago.

100 Years of Architectural Greatness

The design of Wrigley Field follows the popular ‘jewel box’ design popular in the early 20th Century. The left and right fields feature recessed areas that provide slightly more length than if the walls were to follow the contours from center field. Perhaps the most iconic part of Wrigley Field is the stately brick walls and ivy covering. The ivy covering the outfield walls dates back to 1937 when then Cubs General Manager, Bill Veeck, planted it as part of a beautification plan for the bleachers section. Since then the ivy has become a fixture and integral part of Wrigley Field’s aesthetic appeal.

Today, Wrigley Field features a seating capacity of 41,072–making it the tenth smallest ballpark in the country. While it is not an extremely large ballpark, Wrigley makes up for size in character and history. From the old architecture, the unique rooftop seating surrounding the park, and the hand turned scoreboard to the art deco entry marquee, Wrigley Field remains one of the great historic centerpieces in Chicago baseball culture. Alongside Fenway Park in Boston, Wrigley Field is the last park to maintain a hand turned scoreboard. This has remained in place since its installation in 1937 during the bleacher area renovation. In 1941, a clock was added and finally in 1988 lights were installed to accommodate night games.

For the past few years there have been proposed renovations to the stadium by the current owners. The proposed renovation would be a roughly $500 million, five year rehabilitation of nearly every part of the stadium. With these potential renovations, Wrigley Field continues to evolve as a Chicago landmark and its place in history remains strong 100 years and counting.