the new Comiskey: age well with time? (Chicago, Addison: home, neighborhoods)

[edsg25]

Obviously I don't want to call it the Cell. This town was and always will be about Wrigley and Comiskey.

And when that new Comiskey was built, it enjoyed a first year of praise in the baseball world that saw the advancements it brought to the game.

Sadly for the Sox, the next year brought Camden Yards. And that ball park's very nature meant disaster for the new South Side park.

Retro was in. Quirky was valued. Minute, details from a faux past were rewarded. Assymmetry was celebrated.

And from Baltimore to Cleveland to San Francisco to Pittsburgh and all the other down the line, the new Comiskey looked like the mistake, the tragedy of not having foresight to envision the Orioles park that was designed by the same firm that ours was.

The retro parks kept on getting stamped out, year by year, virtually across the map. In time it became obvious: they were too cute by half. They mimicked the past in a disneyesque sort of way. And their quirkiness came as a forced element; for past ballparks, quirks came with the site. For Fenway, a short right field meant the Green Monster. For Wrigley, a low outfield set of bleachers brought the neighborhood into the park.

Not so with the new retroparks, where goofy elements were put in place just to make them look different and special compared to the other new parks. Only in San Francisco did the bay's intrusion into right field create a quirk that was real.

All of which brings us back to the new Comiskey. Its initial problems were addressed. The too steep and too big upper deck was culled. Its lack of roof was corrected with a old style feel. Color and greenery was brought to the outfield. And the very symmetrical nature of the park came, IMHO, to appear far more honest and straight forward than what the new retro parks produced. And sweeping by nature...that's what a symmetrical park can do.

There are still plenty of problems. A neighborhood park would be terrific but this edge of Bridgeport is no Wrigleyville; there is no Comiskeyville on the South Side so without the neighborhood, the pleasures of downtown , like so many of the other parks, would have been appreciated.

Yet in many ways, the sum total to me is that the park has aged well and that its business like approach to baseball is not such a bad thing at all.

That's my assessment. How do you folks make yours on this 20 year old ball park?

[williepotatoes]

Actually "Comiskeyville" may be around the corner. Plans are on the board to develop the entire parking lot across the street where the old park stood. Restaurants, bars and shops will soon be across the street from the yard.

I just hope the place doesn't turn into a mecca for hipsters and frat boys.

[edsg25]

Originally Posted by williepotatoes

Actually "Comiskeyville" may be around the corner. Plans are on the board to develop the entire parking lot across the street where the old park stood. Restaurants, bars and shops will soon be across the street from the yard.

I just hope the place doesn't turn into a mecca for hipsters and frat boys.

sounds interesting. any web info on such a plan? I googled and came up zilch.

[williepotatoes]

Illinois Sports Facilities Authority - U.S. Cellular Field

The last few sentences on this page mention it. They are supposedly in the process of recruitng potential business's now. Once they have their clients, they will start constuction which should be finished quickly. I'll bet that will be around midseason 2011 or opening day 2012 at the latest.

This is an extension of something that they call the 35th street project.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by williepotatoes

Actually "Comiskeyville" may be around the corner. Plans are on the board to develop the entire parking lot across the street where the old park stood. Restaurants, bars and shops will soon be across the street from the yard...

I brought this subject up in this thread a few months ago:

//www.city-data.com/forum/chica...ey-park-2.html

http://www.wbbm780.com/Retail--entertainment-center-planned-for-Sox-Park-/5561622 (broken link)

Sports bar, restaurant planned around U.S. Cellular - Chicago Breaking Sports (http://www.chicagobreakingsports.com/2009/10/sports-bar-restaurant-planned-for-area-around-us-cellular.html - broken link)

[Irishtom29]

I agree with your premise ed. Sox Park is honest and good place to watch a game. One can't escape the irony that a true big city ballpark has been rapped for not being quirky while "quirky" parks are being built in the middle of seas of parking lots.

[MannheimMadman]

I really like the new Comiskey. Some will say it is sterile and boring, but I always seem to enjoy its serentity on a beautiful June evening, for instance.

And, as charming as the old park was in some strange way, it was a dump towards the end.

I suppose I wouldn't mind seeing some new places open up in that old lot. That part of Armour Square could probably use some business. Right now, I think a lot of people probably frequent Schaller's or 35th st. red hots before games.

I'm not so sure I could see it as a place for hipsters really. Maybe an easier place to access for people traveling from suburbs, sure. The part of Armour Square Comiskey is in is nowhere near comparable to "wrigleyville".

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by MannheimMadman

...I'm not so sure I could see it as a place for hipsters really. Maybe an easier place to access for people traveling from suburbs, sure. The part of Armour Square Comiskey is in is nowhere near comparable to "wrigleyville".

Most hipsters hate Wrigley Field,the Cubs,and most things northside like the plague. They think it is cool to like the Sox and talk trash about the Cubs. The south side will get a hipster invasion if the area around the park is built up. Nevermind that a vast majority of hipsters live on the north side, but yet claim to despise the same neighborhoods and the people in them that they actually live in and with!

[reppin_the_847]

LOL, if that happens, they should make Pabst Blue Ribbon the official drink of the Sox. But for some reason, I would tend to believe that a large percentage of hipsters are somewhat apathetic to sports. I could be wrong though.

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Most hipsters hate Wrigley Field,the Cubs,and most things northside like the plague. They think it is cool to like the Sox and talk trash about the Cubs. The south side will get a hipster invasion if the area around the park is built up. Nevermind that a vast majority of hipsters live on the north side, but yet claim to despise the same neighborhoods and the people in them that they actually live in and with!

[meatpuff]

Originally Posted by edsg25

All of which brings us back to the new Comiskey. Its initial problems were addressed. The too steep and too big upper deck was culled. Its lack of roof was corrected with a old style feel. Color and greenery was brought to the outfield. And the very symmetrical nature of the park came, IMHO, to appear far more honest and straight forward than what the new retro parks produced. And sweeping by nature...that's what a symmetrical park can do.

There are still plenty of problems. A neighborhood park would be terrific but this edge of Bridgeport is no Wrigleyville; there is no Comiskeyville on the South Side so without the neighborhood, the pleasures of downtown , like so many of the other parks, would have been appreciated.

I like the place. I never thought it was as bad as people made it out to be. I remember some article in a Chicago paper before the renovations pointing out that the upper deck was steep, but not as steep as that of another revered MLB ballpark or two. Anyway, the renovations definitely improved things. And now the consensus even around Chicago seems to be it's a pretty decent park, which is about how I see things. So that's good. Anyway, perception is everything. Whether the renovations made an objective difference, people stopped bitching about the ballpark. The White Sox needed to get that monkey off their back and so made the right move to do so.

Even though people still don't profess their love for the place that often, and surely it's not one of the top five ballparks in baseball, and certainly the neighborhood doesn't offer visitors more than a shadow of what the neighborhood around the other ballpark in town offers - it makes you appreciate it more when you imagine what might have been. The team almost moved out to Addison, IL. Now I don't care that it's not south of Madison St., and I don't care about tradition as if it had to be built across the street from the old park. But as much as people complain about the current location, can you imagine Addison? It's nice to have a true city ballpark. Two elevated lines to take you quickly from downtown (or one seat rides from the south, west or north side) to right outside the gate. Heck, if you brought your walking shoes it'd only take a little more than an hour from the heart of the Loop. True, you can't stumble out of the gate and be right on top of some hellacious nightlife, there are at least a few blocks of dead buffer all the way around the park. But there is stuff to do nearby, or public transportation to get to places with stuff to do, for those who are willing to look for it. If it were up in Addison, what would the options be, get on and off the highway for one exit so you could find a Chili's or something? But on the other hand for those who drive from outside the city or would rather just get home afterwards, there's the widest road in Illinois a block from the park. Let's take a moment to love what is good about US Cellular. And remember that many other MLB parks are sited in an area more akin to Addison than Armour Square.

That's an interesting area right near there on 35th St. Bridgeport is a vibrant and affluent enough neighborhood for this, but that is a tricky area right there around the freight tracks (this the location we're talking about, guys?). Ballgames are 81 days out of the year, so do you just design the business to make out like gangbusters and just shut down or operate at a very low level the rest of the year? Or do you have to be able to make it from non-baseball people the rest of the year? Bridgeport is great, but you've got at least a few blocks of wasteland north or south of there before you get into (non-project) residences, and intimidating barriers east and west (if east of the freight tracks). Could be difficult when there's no baseball. But hey, if it's economical to operate dozens of concession stands inside the ballpark for 81 days a year, maybe it could work just outside the gates. They should run the numbers on it, and if it looks workable, this would be great. Would be good for Bridgeport, good for the folks near IIT who need more commercial activity nearby, good for White Sox fans, could help the Sox sell more tickets...and luring more Sox fans out after games could even help more discover nice places like Schaller's that already exist. I hope it works out.