5 Reasons Why New White Sox Stadium Is (and Isn't) a Good Idea
By Tim Healey
Pro: The Sox can finally build a Comiskeyville. The team's rivals to the north, the Chicago Cubs, leveraged the neighborhood surrounding historic Wrigley Field to help make going to a game become an event beyond baseball. The area around Wrigley was once dumpy, but the team and late broadcaster Harry Caray helped promote the area in 1980s. Since then, there's been a popular strip of bars up and down Clark Street, and the Cubs have turned a former parking lot into Gallagher Way -- a fan-focused strip of retail that provides the team with another revenue stream.
The Sox were never able to build their own version of Wrigleyville or Gallagher Way, and nor were businesspeople able to place bars and restaurants close to the park. Geography is why; railroad tracks to the west and the expressway to the east sort of cut the park off from the rest of the neighborhood. So, too, did Armour Park to the north.
Add in a sea of parking lots and some residential housing to the park's immediate south, and there was simply no place nearby for a strip of bars for fans to whet their whistles pregame. The most popular bars, Turtle's and Cork and Kerry, are on 33rd Street, with Armour Park in between them and the park. The only bar on 35th near the park is a team-owned bar/restaurant that's near an entry gate. A bunch of bars next to a new stadium, with a walk of less than five minutes, would help draw fans -- and depending on who owns what, help the team generate revenue.
Con: It's unclear what would happen to Guaranteed Rate Field. Does it and the parking lots surrounding it become housing? Could it host the Chicago Fire MLS team? Concerts?