Cubs, bar owners back to battling in courts as Landmark status moves forward

‘Lawyers win! Lawyers win!’
by Ronald Roenigk
Publisher
Three weeks ago the Lake View community, city and Chicago Cubs seemed poised to make a deal over a variety of issues relating to the proposed Wrigley Field expansion, game-day security and the status of Wrigleyville’s rooftop views. The conflict now appears far from over with the city’s plans to move forward on Landmark legislation for the ballpark followed by the Cubs’ lawsuit against the rooftop owners.
On Monday the Chicago Cubs filed a lawsuit against the owners of the rooftop bars across from the park on Sheffield and Waveland avenues, intending to let the lawyers determine in court whether rooftop operators can sell tickets to view Cubs games without a license from the team or Major League Baseball. It seems Harry Caray’s booming “Cubs win! Cubs win!” is now “Lawyers win! Lawyers win!”
“The free ride is over,” said Andy MacPhail, Chicago Cubs president and CEO. “The rooftop owners take in as much as $10 million a year by selling seats to view our games. We do not believe the rooftop operators are entitled to profit from our names, our players, trademarks, copyrighted telecasts and our images without our consent.”
This lawsuit comes on the heels of Friday’s events: the city lifted its freeze on plans to landmark Wrigley Field, a move the team said could delay completion of their proposed expansion until the 2005 season and cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars. These negotiations had stretched out for over two years and team officials had said they thought they were close to a settlement.
The Cubs’ lawsuit appears to be a hardball tactic to force the hands of the rooftop bar owners. The team was trying to link an agreement with all parties relating to the myriad of issues revolving around the expansion of Wrigley Field and the proposed “landmarked” sightlines in and out of the ball park.
“Our responsibility is to the community,” said MacPhail. He pointed out that the lawsuit will not affect the Cubs’ work with the community and city to improve Wrigley Field and neighborhood operations. “This is a business issue. We remain committed to finalizing the neighborhood protection plan. We intend this lawsuit to separate the rooftop issue from the real community issues and allow us to move forward,” he said.
“We’re not favorably disposed to helping to underwrite the rooftop bar owners’ businesses. We’ve been through 14 [negotiation] sessions with the bar owners and only two made any progress and the last one seemed a step back,” said MacPhail. “We feel that the rooftop owners’ only incentive [to settle] and our only leverage is through a lawsuit.”
Team management feels that Friday’s landmark announcement by the city is a separate issue and that the stalling tactics by the rooftop owners only serve to make more money for the bar owners.
“The fact they filed this suit is disappointing,” said Ken Jakubowski, a spokesman for the Wrigleyville Rooftop Owners Association. “We’ve worked very hard for a reasonable expansion and we see the Tribune Co. filing suit as just another bullying tactic. They can’t sue the city or community so they came after us. We are prepared to defend ourselves.”
“We brought a six-page proposal to our last meeting [Nov. 25] that we felt took a major step forward,” he said. “But we also told the Cubs that the deal was contingent on community approval and that we wouldn’t sign off on the deal until then. All we did was give the community a voice and now we’re paying for it.”
The bar owners feel they have quietly provided the community a forum in the debate and that has angered the Tribune Co., which they feel has ignored the community for 20 years. “To them we’re evil,” said Jakubowski. “They believe we control the community and now we’re paying the price for that [false] perception.”
The Landmarking process will now move on a separate track from the discussions concerning the other outstanding issues related to Wrigley Field expansion. “We will continue to work with the Cubs and neighborhood groups on the Cubs issues,” said Alicia Berg, commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development. “But now is the time to proceed with the business of preserving and protecting this national treasure.”
The Commission will hold a public hearing on the merits of Wrigley Field’s historic significance in March 2003. The city is proceeding with the process to preserve the ball park as a landmark, but will also allow the team to make necessary changes to the park for it to remain economically viable. The designation would not preclude an expansion of the bleachers—but would not grant one either.