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C u b e Continued from Page 15 I received from friends was condolences," Ricketts sai d of th e many low ebbs during the saga. "But! never lostfaith . I never lost faith because at the end of the day, it was still an auctio n. The best bid ha d to win." While dollars. an d th e fina ncial structure fueling those dollars. won the day for th e Ricketts family, fellow executives and friends say the family's deep love for the game immediately showed and will pay hu ge dividends going forward. Tom Ricketts isspending 40hours or more each week working on the Cubs , while mainta ining a limited presence with his other ventures. He intends to be at every home game. "They know wha t a treasure th e Cubs are, I've seen the ir pla ns , a nd the ea rly ret urns so far are good," sa id MLB Commissioner Bud Selig.a lifelong Milwaukee resident who has held a close view of the Cubs' operations duringhis 4O-year baseball career. "You can't really run a successful team without a passion for th e game, and they definitely have it." Building boom Wrigley Field all winter was a furious din of construction activity. Every where on e loo ked, cons truction crews of all types were hard at work. Concourses were cleaned and expanded. Bathrooms wer e completely renovated. SLx tiny. cramped suites were combined to creat e the PNC Club. Brickwork was redone in seve ral sections. A new, albeit temporary. Wall of Fame was constructed. Players facilities were upgraded. A new batting tunnel, visible to fans, was constructed. The iconic scoreboard was refaced.Ugly concrete panels lining sections of th e exterior facad e were removed, providing more openness and natural ligh t in the concourses. Beyond raw cons truction, many new a menitie s were planned for th e 2010 season, such as concession stands serving healthier bison mea t from a Colorado outfit, High Plains Bison , controlled by Oneof the many projects at Wrigley that won't provide any direct revenue is repairing brickwork along the left-field line. Bay Packers' Lambeau Field Atrium, would give the club a true annual presence. allowing for events throughout the year and a far better space to celebrate the team's history, tragic as it may be. Several hotel companies have already expressed their interest to be part of th e project. And th e project would finally get team employees, some of whom work in trailers outside of Wrigley, into proper office space. Financing has not been set, but early cost estin1ateshave hoveredaround $100 million, above and beyond a similar number budgeted for the ongoing work in and around the ballpark.The current building schedule calls for planning an d approvals th is year, th e Ricketts family. The net goal amid th e varied proj ects was, as much as possible, to inject significantly more freshn ess, space and modern am en ities into what remains a cramped. aged ballpark. "There is not one corner of the buildin g that's not being touched," TomRickettssaid. "Between our closing in October to Opening Day was a little over five months. So th e attitude was, 'Let's see what we can do."ยท An even bigger view.however,exists with the Triangle Building,essentially an annex to Wrigley that's been discussed on and off for much of the past decade. The planned structure, somewhat resembling the Green Ricketts retained the services of Cubs President Crane Kenney (left) and brought in marketing veteran WallyHayward (right). I ~ Not sure / No response . . . improving the team's on-field perfo rmance .. . renovating Wr igley Field MARCH 29 -APRIL 4 , 2 0 10 Se Cub e Page 17 e As the new owner of the Chicago Cubs, the Ricketts family should first focus on ... ? ... other II! I an d formal construction ongoin g during 2012 and 2013. The Triangle Building would be the centerpiece of a "Project 2014" campaign that wouldtie into the l00thanniversaryof Wrigley Field. and if the Cubs get their way, also include the All-StarGame played at Wrigley that summer.That year, as it stands now,is an American Leagu e year in th e All-Star Game rotation used by the league, but MLB has shown in the past a willingn ess to bend those rul es as desired. "Wewan t this to be the best place in baseball," Tom Ricketts said. "By 2014. we want people to say th at not only has the hist ory . . . developing new revenue str eams 19% Source: TurnkeySports Poll conducted in February byTurnkeySports & Entertainment in ccniunction with Sports Business Journal.The survey covered morethan 1,100 senior-level sports industry executives spanning professional and college sports. www.sport sbusinessjour nal. com I Street & Smith's SpcrtsBuelnese,JOURNAL