Feb. 19--A judge may finally have the chance to weigh in on a contract between the Chicago Cubs and rooftop owners that could determine the future of historic Wrigley Field.
The 2004 contract is at the heart of a lawsuit two rooftop businesses filed against the team last month in an effort to stop the Cubs from installing video scoreboards and advertising above the bleachers as part of a $375 million stadium renovation. The rooftop businesses, the Lakeview Baseball Club and Skybox on Sheffield, allege the team will violate the agreement and put them out of business by blocking their views with the six signs.
Contract details were aired in federal court Wednesday as part of an emergency request by the rooftop businesses to obtain a temporary restraining order and stop the team from putting up the signs. After a four-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Virginia Kendall said she will rule on the request Thursday.
The contract dispute centers on two sentences in the 10-page document. It begins: "The Cubs shall not erect windscreens or other barriers to obstruct the views of the Rooftops, provided however that temporary items such as banners, flags, and decorations for special occasions, shall not be considered as having been erected to obstruct views of the Rooftops."
The section also states: "Any expansion of Wrigley Field approved by governmental authorities shall not be a violation of this Agreement, including this section."
Kendall quickly saw the potential controversy in the contract language.
"Therein lies the rub," she said. "Are we expanding or building a sign?"
Thomas Lombardo, attorney for the two rooftop businesses, said the additional advertising and scoreboards are not an "expansion" of the stadium.
"These signs don't make Wrigley Field bigger," he said.
Lombardo conceded, though, that the contract would allow the Cubs, with government approval, to build the bleachers more than 100 feet high and obstruct the rooftop views.
Attorneys for the Cubs argued that the signs are an expansion of the stadium because they are structurally connected to the additional seats and fan decks the team is adding to the bleachers. In addition, the signs have been approved by the Commission on Chicago Landmarks and the Chicago City Council, said Andrew Kassoff, a team attorney.
"It's an expansion in every definition of the word," Kassoff said. "We're expanding up ... the contract draws no limitation on the expansion."
Legal experts not involved in the case who have viewed the contract say two sentences are too ambiguous to make a clear prediction about winners and losers.
Kendall may rule on the restraining order request without resolving the contract dispute. But the contract is likely to come up again in the legal proceedings because the rooftop businesses have also asked for a court order to permanently block the installation of the signs, as well as monetary damages. The Cubs have moved to dismiss the suit.
asachdev@tribpub.com
