Cubs Donate $1M To Pay For More Security Cameras Around Wrigley Field

CHICAGO, IL — Although in the works before Monday's suicide bombing of a stadium in Manchester, England, the Chicago Cubs have donated $1 million to pay for 30 additional security cameras around Wrigley Field, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. But the team did use the terrorist attack at an Ariana Grande concert to lobby again to close streets around the ballpark on game days, a measure city officials don't foresee enacting anytime soon, the report added.

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On Tuesday, the City Council's Budget Committee authorized using the Cubs' $1 million grant to install new cameras to city-owned light poles around the field and connecting them to the city's network of 29,000 private and public cameras, which can be monitored from Chicago's Office of Emergency Management and Communications' 911 center, the report stated. Ald. Tom Tunney (44th Ward), who represents the residents around Wrigley Field, told the Sun-Times that the new cameras would be located in the area bounded by the following roadways:

• inner Lake Shore Drive to the east
• Western Avenue to the west
• Belmont Avenue to the south
• Montrose Avenue to the north

Cameras could be placed at the Irving Park and Addison Street exit ramps from the Kennedy Expressway, as well, the report added.

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Tunney also told the newspaper that the timing for the city approving the Cubs' grant — coming the day after 22 people were killed and at least 59 more were injured in an overseas terrorist attack — was an eerie coincidence and that plans for the additional cameras had been brewing for about a year:

"We’ve had an enhanced camera system around Wrigley Field for five or 10 years funded through OEMC. This initiative is completely funded by the Cubs.

"There’s 3 million people who visit that stadium. [The Cubs] want to make sure they’ve done their part to help the city increase camera presence around the stadium. It’s not a reaction to anything. It’s part of an overall strategy to keep our community safe."

While the Cubs and the city agree that increased security camera coverage around Wrigley is a facet of this overall strategy to keep residents safe, both sides don't see eye to eye when it comes to shutting down major arteries around the ballpark, such as Addison and Clark streets. The Cubs have pointed to Boston taking similar steps when it comes to game-day road closures around Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox.

"This is not about any one particular incident. This is about ensuring one of the largest tourist attractions in the state is secure," Cubs spokesman Julian Green told the Sun-Times. "With the installation of these new cameras, that will allow us to have eyes around the entire perimeter of the ballpark. That is a very huge step in strengthening ballpark security. But we believe more can and should be done."

But Chicago officials have been resistant to the organization's appeals over the years when it comes to closing roads during home games, arguing that a balance needs to be struck between meeting the needs and concern of fans attending games at the ballpark and the community of businesses and residents that surround it.

"We’ve got to pay attention to everybody, not just those inside the stadium," Tunney told the Sun-Times. "It’s people trying to get home from work. It’s the car repair business that can’t get cars in and out."

More via the Chicago Sun-Times

Photo by Tim Moran

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