An agreement approved by the Chicago Landmarks Commission could "pave the way for the Cubs to put advertising on the clock in the center field scoreboard and along the top of the outfield wall" at Wrigley Field, according to a front-page piece by Dardick & Byrne of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The commission last month "approved a 'master sign program' outlining the team's plans for as much as 45,000 square feet of advertisements on the ballpark's interior and exterior, roughly double what's there now." The plan "envisions putting a 'branded name in white letters' on the clock face at the top of the landmark, hand-operated center field scoreboard." LED ads also could be "affixed to the gooseneck lights atop the center field scoreboard." Another idea is for a "'sign grown into bushes' in the area of center field where there are no bleacher seats." The program "allows the team to put up mesh ads along the basket that lines the top of the outfield wall which prevents fans from falling onto the field." Additionally, the sign plan calls for "'rotating or permanent signage' along the brick walls in left field and right field." Cubs VP/Communications & Community Affairs Julian Green said that that is a "reference to the infield walls on the left and right field sides and there are no plans to alter the ivy-covered outfield walls." Staff from Chicago's Department of Housing and Economic Development will "check to make sure anything the Cubs request in landmarked areas of the ballpark like the scoreboard and the brick wall behind home plate conform to the sign program" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE 7/9).
