The Chicago Cubs’ past and future World Series champions will soon have permanent recognition outside Wrigley Field.
To honor the franchise’s three World Series championship teams, the Cubs are creating an archway monument at the Clark Street entrance of Gallagher Way, slated to be unveiled the weekend of July 17, president of business operations Crane Kenney told the Tribune on Saturday. The unveiling will coincide with an in-season celebration of the 2016 squad.
The Cubs are still in the early stages of the design phase, but the organization opted for a more inclusive creation rather than a singular statue representing the 2016 team. The installation construction will start about six weeks before its reveal with one of the most iconic features, the piece revealing the name of the champions gate, being put in place shortly beforehand.
A narrative for each of the organization’s three title teams — 1907, 1908 and 2016 — written by historian Ed Hartig will be displayed with each title team to accompany the names of every player and coach from that championship season. The creation also will include space for any future World Series title teams.
When evaluating how to best memorialize a tribute to the 2016 champions, the organization looked at what other franchises have done to honor their historic World Series champs, such as the Boston Red Sox hanging a banner for their 2004 squad, and the White Sox, who created a team statue displayed at the front of the ballpark to celebrate the 2005 group.
“We could never get comfortable that there was a way, and especially because that team and Game 7, you think about Game 7 and the contributions were from everyone in the entire roster, so how in the world can we ever pay tribute to the roster and coaches?” Kenney told the Tribune during the Cubs Convention at the Sheraton Grand Chicago. “So we went back and said, OK, let’s do something to honor all of them — a gate into Gallagher Way, where all the statues are where we celebrate our heroes.
“We treasure our history and heritage. It allows us to share the story, the history, and, importantly, would not leave any out.”
