When the Cubs season ended, I breathed a sign of relief. The “bad weather” of loud drunken fans, trash strewn lawns, traffic, and lack of parking spots was over. My little neighborhood was going back to normal. Nice and quite with local bars offering great deals to lure people into their empty establishments.

I spoke with a friend that works for the team, and he said “I think it’s probably going to suck to live in this neighborhood for the next few years.”

I had no idea what he was talking about. Then the next morning, I was awoken by the sound of jackhammers ripping up the foundation.

It had begun.

I’ve been living in my amazing apartment since 2012. I inherited it from a friend who was renting it and got a job in Minnesota. It’s a lovely one bedroom on the third floor of a building on Racine and Waveland. I can see the ball park from my back deck and can hear the Cubs lose from my couch (I joke, but really…). If I watch a game on TV, I can hear the crowd’s reaction and know what happened on a play several seconds before it makes the broadcast.  When the Cubs won the longest game in Wrigley Field , I mentally shook an angry fist at them when they decided it would be fun to sing the 7th inning stretch, again, in the 14th inning, at 1 in the morning.

Of course no one who moves to Wrigleyville has the right to complain about noise and drunks. It’s like going to a One Direction concert and lamenting all of the squealing tween girls. It’s just that I have such a sweet apartment. I have no one above me, no one next to me, and my downstairs neighbors only make noise when the Blackhawks score. Street parking is easily available (except for Cubs games) and I’m paying about $200-300 below market rate for my unit.

However I’m under the impression that as the renovations to Wrigley and Wrigleyville progress, I will ultimately be booted out of my beloved apartment so the building can be converted to condos. So I’m writing this blog to document my time in this unique apartment with the best view I’ve had of anywhere I’ve lived. A hotel will soon rise up from the McDonalds by me, blocking most of my view.

Also, I walk by Wrigley Field almost every day. It seems a waste to not snap photos and document this historic time.

I feel I have a unique perspective on the renovation process, not just because I live here, but also because I worked for Major League Baseball for 5 seasons, have visited 29 out of 30 current ballparks (sorry Oakland!), 5 obsolete ballparks (Miami, NY, NY, Minnesota, Philly), been to six All Star Games, two World Series, and performed as a mascot at 14 MLB parks. I’ve been fortunate to experience ballparks from a different perspective. I’ve tried the food, experienced the backstage facilities, watched their in game entertainment, rated the ease or getting to/from the park, enjoyed going out after the game, and haggled over the best ticket prices.

I am also not a Cubs or Wrigley Field fan. In fact I’ve felt for years that Wrigley was not amazing at all, but rather a neglected, dilapidated ballpark resting on it’s historic laurels. After getting over the “Whoa, Wrigley Field” magic of the first trip, there has been little to draw me to the park. With it’s small concourses, gross bathrooms, horrible food/beer options, and lack of in game entertainment there was nothing appealing about it. Even though I live a block away from the park, I would often take groups of friend down to the White Sox park, where we could tailgate, watch fireworks, dance along to great music, eat crazy food, and drink beer that wasn’t limited to Budweiser and <shudder> Old Stlye.

This season I was so bored at games I began to take pictures of all of the gross things at the park. Rusty seats, chipped paint, crumbling concrete, and more. At one point when I was standing in the concourse behind home plate and I caught a whiff of the unmistakable smell of sewage. Wrigley Field, was literally…shitty.

That’s why I’m excited to see the Cubs enter the 21st century with a modernized park. I’m hoping that they channel the spirit of the old park, and merge it with the new. I look no further than my favorite ballpark, Fenway Park, for the blueprint I hope the Cubs follow.

This will be fun. Let’s watch Wrigley rise up from the ashes, and let’s see how long I get to stay in my sweet ass apartment.

~Kelly