If state rehabs Wrigley, it'll want something from city
Thompson: Relax landmark status, give up tax money

February 26, 2008
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter fspielman@suntimes.com

The Tribune Co.'s plan to have a state agency acquire and renovate Wrigley Field would require the city to relax the ballpark's landmark status and forfeit for 30 years the sales tax growth generated by the remodeling, a top official said Monday.

The City Council landmarked "historic elements" of Wrigley in 2004 as part of an agreement that paved the way for 12 more night games. The designation covered the exterior and marquee sign at Clark and Addison, the quaint center field scoreboard and ivy-covered brick walls and the uninterrupted sweep of the bleachers and grandstand.

Former Illinois Gov. Jim Thompson is head of the Illinois Sports Authority whcih is considering buying Wrigley Field.

Former Gov. Jim Thompson, chairman of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, stressed that the agency that stands to acquire and renovate Wrigley would "do nothing to diminish the character and ambience" of the 94-year-old shrine of Major League Baseball.

But, Thompson said the city "needs to amend the historic preservation ordinance."

Crane Kenney, the Tribune Co. senior vice president who oversees the Cubs, added, "If you're going to restore and maintain the facility, you're going to have to take parts of it down and rebuild it, just like we rebuilt the bleachers two years ago. Landmarking authorization doesn't let you do that."

Relaxing Wrigley's landmark designation would not be the city's only contribution to the stadium deal.

The Wrigley renovation would be financed by bonds retired by increased stadium revenues -- everything from naming rights, sponsorships and concessions to clubs seats and additional skyboxes. The Tribune Co. would get a higher price for the stadium because ISFA can issue tax-exempt, longer-term bonds at a reduced interest rate.

Thompson described the arrangement as a sales tax version of tax-increment-financing (TIF). But, instead of freezing property taxes at existing levels and using the growth for business subsidies and infrastructure improvements within the district, the sales tax increment generated by the stadium renovation would be used to modernize Wrigley.

"The city would have to give up their share of sales tax increment for the next 30 years," Thompson said.

Ald. Tom Tunney (44th), whose ward includes Wrigley, was cool to the idea.

"The only increment financing we do is on property taxes. This would be a whole new financial precedent," Tunney said.

The alderman was equally cynical about relaxing Wrigley's landmark designation.

"We spent a number of years working on it. We worked on it together. It would be pretty onerous to open it up. For what reason -- to expand the capacity or expand the advertising? I have no idea how they would like to gut the inside of that place. I'm not closed to it. But, the idea of opening it up for pure profit -- I have to see what's in it for the community," Tunney said.

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