Major League Baseball

Cubs change Wrigley Field plans for possible tax credit

Published Dec. 4, 2014 12:04 p.m. ET

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The Commission on Chicago Landmarks on Thursday approved several changes the Chicago Cubs made to their Wrigley Field renovation plan in an effort to obtain a possible federal tax credit of $75 million.

Cubs officials went before the panel to get a thumbs up for a plan to move some of the outfield ad signage for which it won city approval in July.

The changes to the renovation plan include eliminating a 650-foot sign in left field and swapping locations of a video board and a 650-foot sign in right field. The right-field video board would be 200 feet smaller -- 2,200 square feet -- and the left-field video board would move 30 feet closer to the center-field scoreboard.

Following the vote, Cubs spokesman Julian Green said the multiple changes to the project over the past couple of years highlight the challenge the team has in getting renovations done in 26 weeks.

"We think we've now reached a conclusion to how we will move forward with the outfield signs," he said.

The tweaks the Cubs brought before the commission were made in hopes of winning a major federal tax credit from the National Park Service. The credit would be awarded only if the stadium is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places and meets the secretary of the interior's Standards for Rehabilitation.

Also attending the commission meeting was Tom Moore, an attorney representing a group of owners of nearby rooftop stands with a view of the Wrigley playing field. Moore reiterated the owners' opposition to the signs, which block the views from several rooftops.

Wrigley Field is undergoing a privately funded $575 million renovation. 

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