City threatens to lock fans out

August 20, 2004

BY ABDON M. PALLASCH Staff Reporter

Based on a comment a reporter made, then withdrew, the city of Chicago is threatening to lock fans out of Wrigley Field for Monday night's game against Milwaukee unless the Cubs provide new engineering evidence that the ballpark is safe.

City Building Commissioner Stan Kaderbek said the Los Angeles Times' Chicago bureau chief told him a Cubs official had claimed to her that some repairs at Wrigley Field were "shoddy and the cause of falling concrete."

Even though the reporter later called Kaderbek back and said, "No, that wasn't what I really meant," Kaderbek said he is erring on the side of caution and ordering a new inspection of the park.

"My job is to ensure public safety, all right?" Kaderbek said. "Right before this press conference, I received a call from that reporter informing me she was working on several stories, that information was conflicting, and she had mixed up her stories. I have no way of independently verifying one way or the other. . . . I don't know what to believe, and I guess the only way I can get that is to send somebody out. Fortunately, we don't have a game until Monday night."

The Los Angeles Times, which is owned by the Tribune, released a statement saying Kaderbek mischaracterized his conversation with the reporter.

"According to the reporter, P.J. Huffstutter, she never said she had information from inside the Cubs organization. After the commissioner questioned her on the subject, she telephoned his office later that day and left a voice mail to reiterate that she had no credible information about shoddy workmanship."

The Cubs issued a statement expressing exasperation, saying two engineers had already found the ballpark safe. "We will continue to respond to these new questions from the city. If the city chooses to make further inspections, it will find what two structural engineers have already found -- Wrigley Field is safe and sound."

Chunks of concrete have fallen from Wrigley's upper deck at least three times since June, but no fans have been injured. Nets have been installed to protect fans, and inspections were conducted of the upper deck and mezzanine levels in July.

The Chicago Sun-Times reported last month that a 2001 report on the structural integrity of Wrigley uncovered serious defects and recommended repair and replacement of pedestrian and bleacher ramps to avert a "potentially hazardous condition" that could cause "local failure."

The Cubs responded by insisting they had spent nearly $2 million on maintenance and repairs since then, but admitted the work was done without the required permits. City Hall asked for records on those repairs, and Kaderbek said they do not show any shoddy work.

Kaderbek denied he was holding the Tribune-owned Cubs to a higher standard than any other Chicago building owner because of the ongoing sparring match between Mayor Daley and the Tribune.

In news conferences, editorials and columns, the mayor and the newspaper have traded barbs about whether Daley is messing with the Cubs as revenge for coverage he did not like. Daley suggested the Tribune was seeking retaliation when it made Freedom of Information requests for copies of permits for work done at City Hall.

Kaderbek at first said, "If we can't get independent verification to my satisfaction that the repairs are made and that they are made correctly and that there is not an issue of shoddy workmanship, we will not have a game Monday night."

But later he said he might let players out in the field but not fans in the stands. "If people want to sign a waiver they can go on in -- they can certainly play in there, they just may not have a crowd to sit there to watch."

Kaderbek also ordered one of the buildings across the street from Wrigley that hosts a rooftop deck at 1032-1034 W. Waveland to provide proof of stability if it wants to be open for Monday's game because he noticed cracks in the building's facade.

Sun Times