Cubs Issue Apology Email to Season Tix Holders

There’s nothing particularly laudable or laughable about the Cubs’ email to season ticket holders to apologize for the inadequate facilities at Sunday’s game. That said, I do appreciate the speed with which they got it out and the specificity contained therein.

I assume — I sincerely hope — that the 40% increase Crane Keeney discusses is in reference to the previous capacity and not the reduced amount we’ve seen of late. Either way, that’s a lot of troughs.

I was hoping to read something along the lines of Julian Greene’s mea culpa in which he claimed the Cubs felt there would have been more no-shows on Opening Night. Because, yeah, it makes sense that a success-starved fanbase would not show up for the first game of what is supposed to be a resurgent season, against their big rival no less. And let’s not forget the thousands of missing seats currently covered by images of Ernie Banks.

Here’s the letter if you’re interested:

Thank you for being a part of our first ever Opening Night at Wrigley Field. With more than 35,000 fans in the ballpark, it was one of our best-attended home openers in relation to available seating.

We also need to apologize for the restroom wait times last night. One of the principal goals of the 1060 Project, the restoration and expansion of Wrigley Field, is the improvement of our restroom service throughout the ballpark. Once complete, we will see a 40 percent increase in restroom capacity.

Unfortunately, current construction has caused a temporary reduction in left-field concourse services, and on Sunday, we experienced a temporary malfunction of existing restrooms in the upper deck. The combination of events led to unacceptable wait times throughout the ballpark. Available restroom facilities in the right-field concourse were not altered from 2014 levels.

Four new restrooms, two women’s and two men’s, in the left-field concourse will be available in late May. Once completed, restroom capacity in the left-field concourse will exceed our 2014 levels.

Beginning tomorrow night, we will supplement existing restrooms with portable units in the left-field concourse and outside Gate K. With these facilities in place, we will have approximately the same number of fixtures as we did at the end of the 2014 season. In addition, we are working with our gameday staff to help coordinate concourse traffic by communicating shortest wait times at all concourse facilities.

We strive to deliver best-in-class service to our fans and hold ourselves to high standards.

We appreciate your patience and for bearing with us as we work to restore Wrigley Field. We are committed to ensuring ongoing construction does not lessen your experience at our ballpark. We will continue to monitor wait times and overall construction activity and will communicate developments as we go.

Sincerely,

Crane Kenney
Cubs President of Business Operations