Famous roofs of Wrigley Field to be demolished after city agrees

WRIGLEYVILLE – The City Council has approved the rezoning of three iconic, century-old buildings across from the right-field bleachers at Wrigley Field on Sheffield Avenue to make room for a 29-unit apartment building.

The vote passed Wednesday despite attempts by some neighbors to block the project due to the historical significance of the buildings and the potential impact on the character of the neighborhood.

The ownership group behind the project, led by rooftop real estate investor Marc Anguiano, plans to demolish the three buildings at 3627, 3631 and 3633 N. Sheffield Ave. and build a five-story, 29-unit apartment building with 11 parking spaces along the alley behind the building.

The roof design includes two pickleball courts.

Longtime Chicago Cubs fans will recognize the three buildings as the site of the famous Torco advertising poster, as well as the property made famous by its “Eamus Catuli” sign – loosely translated from Latin, it means “Let’s go, Cubs.”

This sign hung for years on the building at 3633 N. Sheffield Ave., but has since moved to the next address.

For years, next to the “Eamus Catuli” sign stood another sign that was a sad reminder of the Cubs’ lack of success. Before the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, the sign read AC0071108: AC stood for Anno Catuli, or “the year of the Cubs,” and the numbers meant that “00” had passed since the last division title, “71” since the last pennant, and “108” since the last world championship.

After the Cubs won everything, the counter was reset to AC000000.

When the area around Wrigley Field underwent major renovations, the owners of the three buildings on Sheffield Avenue essentially lost out. They used to sell tickets to the rooftop terraces to fans who wanted to watch Cubs games, but those seats have remained mostly empty since 2015 because the giant video scoreboard in right field blocks the view from the rooftops.

“Twenty years ago, a lot of these property owners signed a contract with the Cubs to share revenue and get their view,” Ald. Bennett Lawson (44th) previously told Block Club. “And then ten years ago, the Cubs changed the contract with the city and blocked their view. A lot of them sold to the Cubs – and then you have these people who had nothing commercially.”

Lisa Sorenson, a longtime Wrigleyville resident who owns property a block away, started an online petition calling on the city government to reconsider the development and list the buildings as historic monuments.

The petition has collected nearly 2,900 signatures, but after the city council vote on Wednesday, neighbors are unlikely to be able to stop the project.

“It is disappointing that the City Council is pushing its and the developer’s agenda without considering community feedback,” Sorenseon said Wednesday. “The neighborhood is not against development, but the destruction of these three iconic buildings is unacceptable.”

Despite the online petition, Lawson said community feedback on the project has been overwhelmingly positive.

Anguiano said the “Eamus Catuli” sign will be incorporated into the new building, but concrete plans for it have yet to be finalized.

“One of the most important things for us – this may not be true for everyone and all developments in the area – is to stay true to history and try to preserve it as much as possible,” Anguiano previously told Block Club. “That’s very important to us. There are details in the design that we put in to try to stay as true as possible to what’s there.”

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