Outside US Cellular Field (Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
Posted: Friday, 30 October 2009 6:35AM
Changes planned for area around Sox Park
Steve Miller Reporting
WBBM Newsradio 780
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- 35th Street is a long way from Wrigleyville, but the block where the old Comiskey Park once stood could become home to some elements of that North Side neighborhood.
The immediate area around US Cellular Field is not known as an entertainment destination.
Not now anyway. But, as WBBM's Steve Miller reports exclusively, there's a plan to put a restaurant, a sports bar and retail shops on 35th Street across the street from the ball park.
A restaurant. Maybe even two. Some shops. Some sports paraphernalia. All along 35th Street, where the old Comiskey Park was.
"Our objective is to provide the community and the White Sox fan base with entertainment and options and a vibrant area that they can visit before and after games and all year," says Perri Irmer, CEO of the Illinois Sports Facilities Authority, the developer and owner of US Cellular Field.
She says they're studying "various funding options" for the building.
Any development would have to be market-driven, she says.
"We're looking forward to being able to complete the project as soon as the market allows."
11th Ward Alderman James Balcer says he likes the plans.
"Everything is ready to go. We've just got to get the economy percolating a little bit more and we'll have some nice shops there and a nice restaurant."
"It would be good for the neighborhood, good for the Sox, good for everyone in Chicago. It's a great thing, and there's plenty of parking over by Cellular Field that can accommodate this."
A spokesman for the White Sox says the Sox aren't aware of any plan.
But one insider says the Sox just aren't ready to talk about it.
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