April 05--A beeping yellow Bobcat woke from a slumber at the corner of Addison and Sheffield, preparing to move some pallets loaded with materials, before the engine went silent.
A few more turns of the key proved futile, prompting men in yellow vests and hard hats to wail into walkie-talkies.
"Load it on another one," one of the men barked.
And so construction continued -- again, still -- in and around Wrigley Field as the home opener looms.
A man in a Detroit Tigers cap who has lived in the neighborhood for seven years was walking by the ballpark with his dog, Drake, and said aloud what many are wondering.
"Think they're going to make it?" Jeff Black asked.
That's the multimillion-dollar question. Cubs officials insist the answer is yes, "Making the Friendly Confines Friendlier," aka Phase II of the four-year "1060 Project," will have the park ready for baseball Monday.
"Maybe next year," Black said with a grin. "The eternal saying for this team."
But he continued: "I like it. I think it's well worth it. Living through it is a bit of a nightmare. It looks like a UFO landed here."
Welcome to the new Wrigleyville, which the Ricketts family is transforming into the 21st century.
Eileen Felson, who has lived in Wrigleyville for 13 years, said the construction the last couple of years hasn't bothered her much.
"Lots of progress the last couple of weeks," she said as her 2-year-old Pug, Henry, tugged at his Cubs leash. "There has been a sense of urgency."
Wrigley has never had such major surgery in such a short amount of time. Last year, bleacher expansion spilled into the regular season and two video boards were added -- one in left field and one in right.
A green sign with white letters alerted passersby Sunday that "the marquee is undergoing historic restoration." Its absence was further emphasized by white wrapping that cloaked the front of the building that opened in 1914.
Green screens were bound to chain-link fences surrounding the park. Behind them, stacks of lumber and iron rested ready on pallets. A pair of brown work gloves, worn to the nubs, sat discarded against a concrete barrier.
Two open gates revealed a sliver of freshly mowed lawn, suggesting the field itself is ready for some baseball.
More than 2,000 miles away, in Anaheim, Calif., Cubs players were looking forward to getting home to see their new 30,000-square-foot clubhouse.
"We had a meeting about a week ago where they had a guy show us a video tour of it, and it basically was done," pitcher Kyle Hendricks said. "There's so much space in there."
Hendricks mentioned an infrared sauna and "a bunch of crazy stuff they've got in the training room for us," including treadmills in pools and a sauna in what will be the second-biggest clubhouse in baseball behind the Yankees'.
