Drivers headed by Wrigley Field soon could "pass under a 'branded' archway with advertising as part of an amended Wrigleyville overhaul plan that took a step closer to reality at City Hall on Thursday," according to John Byrne of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE. The "gateway arch" would cross above Clark Street north of Addison Street as part of a renovation proposal for Wrigley Field and the immediate neighborhood "that the Chicago Plan Commission endorsed." A drawing of the arch showed "a generic 'Welcome to Brand Plaza' on a sign atop the archway, with a spot for an advertisement lower on the arch and advertising banners hanging from the outside of the arch over the sidewalks on either side of the street." The signs would be "lit up on an arch that would have a clearance of 17 feet, six inches above Clark." There also would be "internally illuminated 'branded logos' in the brick posts anchoring the arch to either sidewalk." The advertising arch had been "talked about during the protracted negotiations about the particulars of the massive renovation plan." But Thursday's meeting was "the first time it was publicly presented to city officials as an official part" of the $500M development deal. Cubs Exec VP/Community Affairs & General Counsel Michael Lufrano said that the advertising arch was "agreed to after the team consented to give up a proposed pedestrian bridge over Clark." Chicago Alderman Tom Tunney "opposed the bridge, which would have featured an advertising banner." The arch is "just one part of the larger Wrigleyville overhaul package that now heads to the City Council Zoning Committee" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 11/22). In Chicago, Fran Spielman notes the Cubs got the go-ahead for the arch over the "objections of residents" around the ballpark. But Lufrano argued that the arch "is a fair trade-off for the pedestrian bridge scrapped at Tunney's behest" (CHICAGO SUN-TIMES, 11/22).
