Renovations at U.S. Cellular Field, Part II

[Parrothead]

Originally Posted by JNS

Absolutely. Boyer took the fairly bold step of reducing seating capacity to make the place better. And it worked. Sometimes less is more!

Not sure if it was Boyers idea or not to tear some rows off the upper deck and do all the alterations, however, the Sox management and the Sports Authority still had to give it the ok. The props that Boyer deserves is asking / listening to what the fans want / need and trying to provide it. Marketing is a skill that guy has skills.

[JNS]

Originally Posted by Parrothead

Not sure if it was Boyers idea or not to tear some rows off the upper deck and do all the alterations, however, the Sox management and the Sports Authority still had to give it the ok. The props that Boyer deserves is asking / listening to what the fans want / need and trying to provide it. Marketing is a skill that guy has skills.

It's amazing to me that it took about 20 years of ownership for these guys to get someone in who related to the fans the Sox HAVE, as opposed to the ones they wish they had. Turns out there are a lot of them, and their money is as green as anyone's.

[Lundind1]

I love the fact that they are listening to fans requests. I hope that all of these renovations and things turn this into even more of World Class facility.

On another note, the demo crew has almost completed removal of the walk overs from gate 5 to the LF side of the building. Mobile offices have been put in place as well for the contractors working on the building project. Hopefully this "snow" we are supposed to get is not going to delay completion of this phase of the demo because 35th is closed and getting around here is tough.

[JNS]

Originally Posted by Lundind1

I love the fact that they are listening to fans requests. I hope that all of these renovations and things turn this into even more of World Class facility.

On another note, the demo crew has almost completed removal of the walk overs from gate 5 to the LF side of the building. Mobile offices have been put in place as well for the contractors working on the building project. Hopefully this "snow" we are supposed to get is not going to delay completion of this phase of the demo because 35th is closed and getting around here is tough.

I went to Grandstand today to get some Xmas stuff - 35th still blocked from the East - I had to go over to 31st and then up Union or Lowe or whatever.

[Lundind1]

Originally Posted by JNS

I went to Grandstand today to get some Xmas stuff - 35th still blocked from the East - I had to go over to 31st and then up Union or Lowe or whatever.

Yeah, I just got back from a food run and there are still pieces of concrete to come down from the overpass. I think that they should get is all done by midnight at the latest.

[esbrechtel]

Lundind thanks for all of the updates for those of us that live out in the 'burbs.

[Red Barchetta]

Originally Posted by esbrechtel

Lundind thanks for all of the updates for those of us that live out in the 'burbs.

...and for us transplanted SOX fans who live 1200 miles away in the "burbs".

[Cat Thief]

What's wrong with 33rd St? Why is is so tough to get around?

[chisoxfanatic]

Originally Posted by Cat Thief

What's wrong with 33rd St? Why is is so tough to get around?

They've recently done some work under the viaduct. It's not too bad there today, though.

I drove my cousin (big Sox fan) to the airport early this afternoon, and he wanted to take a couple pictures of the ballpark before going to my place, so we did, and that area looks incredibly bare right now! I really think this is going to expose more of the outer beauty of the ballpark.

It's too bad we had some snow cover on the ground, or he'd have been able to get a better photo of our Championship monument.

[Cat Thief]

Looks to me like that work was for new lights on the railroad tracks. I could be wrong.

[chisoxfanatic]

Originally Posted by Cat Thief

Looks to me like that work was for new lights on the railroad tracks. I could be wrong.

They should seriously look into repaving that viaduct and pretty much every other viaduct here in Bridgeport!

[nasox]

This thread is awesome. I love intelligent discussion about our park, our fanbase, management and their sometimes good/sometimes bad decisions, and urban development. Good work, WSI. And PHG, always like reading your posts (although I still haven't forgotten your proposal for a soccer style baseball playoff. )

[JNS]

Originally Posted by chisoxfanatic

They should seriously look into repaving that viaduct and pretty much every other viaduct here in Bridgeport!

It took cars disappearing into the maws of the earth - all the way to the molten mantle I think - before they got around to dealing with the 47th and the lake viaduct under the Metra electric line. They totally rebuilt the road, topping it off with concrete instead of blacktop, which means that it won't deteriorate in the next six weeks.

I don't go under the 35th St viaduct much any more so I don't know how bad it is - I used to park for free on Normal years ago, but now take the red line most of the time.

[schmitty9800]

Any talk about switching the scoreboard with one of the center ad banners so it'll be less obscured by the Fundamentals Deck? :(

[JNS]

Originally Posted by schmitty9800

Any talk about switching the scoreboard with one of the center ad banners so it'll be less obscured by the Fundamentals Deck? :(

From the comments at WSI, and in my personal opinion, the "scoreboard" is a joke; just a huge electric billboard. The thing in LF, and the other scores in RF are a travesty. Just put all the important stuff in CF, where it belongs, us LF and RF as billboards.