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Feds probe whether Cubs’ $1 billion Wrigley Field renovation meets accessibility requirements

Chicago Tribune - 12/6/2019

Federal prosecutors have launched an investigation into whether the Chicago Cubs’ $1 billion, 5-year renovation of Wrigley Field meets accessibility requirements for disabled spectators.

The Cubs filed notice of the review Thursday in Chicago federal court, where the team is defending itself against a lawsuit brought by a wheelchair-bound fan who alleges that seating in the ballpark is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and is in fact worse than before the renovation.

The U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois initiated an ADA compliance review to ensure Wrigley Field is “readily accessible” to those with disabilities, according to a Dec. 5 letter filed on behalf of the team.

“The Cubs are completing a five-year renovation of Wrigley Field which we believe has significantly increased the accessibility of the ballpark,” an attorney representing the Cubs wrote to the Chicago federal judge presiding in the case. The letter said compliance with the ADA “is of critical importance to the Cubs, as is ensuring the accessibility to all fans to Wrigley Field, a historic and aging ballpark with a limited physical footprint.”

A Justice Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Launched in 2014, the extensive $1 billion renovation of 105-year-old Wrigley Field is nearly complete. The project includes a bleachers expansion, outfield video boards, an expanded grandstand concourse and other amenities.

In December 2017, Chicago attorney David A. Cerda filed a lawsuit against the team on behalf of his son, David F. Cerda, a lifelong Cubs fan who is confined to a wheelchair due to muscular dystrophy. The lawsuit, which is ongoing, alleges the renovated Wrigley Field doesn’t have enough accessible seats, and that those are not dispersed properly in the ballpark, in violation of ADA requirements.

“They went backwards,” the elder Cerda said Friday. “They made it worse.”

The Cubs did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

More to come.

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