Accessibility at Wrigley Field

One of my birthday gifts this year was a trip to Chicago to watch the Cubs play the Brewers. It was a fantastic experience but not an easy one. Find out how I navigated my first Cubs game on a broken foot and sprained ankle!

I turned 30 on June 28, and my partner’s gift to me was a trip to Chicago to watch the Cubs play the Brewers at Wrigley Field. I’ve wanted to visit Wrigley Field since I got into baseball: at first I thought I should go because I could blog about it, and later, I became more enthusiastic but figured it wasn’t financially possible in the near future. When I learned I’d actually be going in a few weeks, I was genuinely thrilled.

A week before we left, I broke my foot and sprained my ankle. I had to get a cast and use crutches, and thanks to a preexisting injury in my non-broken foot, getting around became painful as well as awkward and difficult. Suddenly, our whole trip had to be considered through the lens of accessibility.

Accessibility at Wrigley Field

We had great seats booked, but we weren’t sure how accessible they were, so we called Wrigley Field to learn our options. When you call Wrigley Field, the automated voice on the phone thanks you for calling “the Cubs.” Cheesy as this is, it’s fun: it sounds like Javier Baez or someone might pick up the phone. Sadly, our calls were answered by ordinary Wrigley Field employees. We had three options: keep our seats, pay a little more for lousy accessible seats, or pay a lot more for decent accessible seats. We opted to keep our seats and take advantage of Wrigley’s wheelchair service.

We arrived at Wrigley Field on Friday, August 2, about an hour before the 2:20 PM game time. After scanning our tickets and inspecting our bags, the employee at the entrance directed us to a bank of wheelchairs and another employee named Roberto, who wrote down our seat numbers and then wheeled me to our section. I had to hop down several steep stairs to our row. There was no railing, but Roberto helped me. He said he’d be back to pick me up after the game.

The wheelchair service was helpful, but it wasn’t comprehensive. Since baseball games are usually several hours long, my biggest concern was using the washroom during the game. There was no good way to do that, as wheelchair service only operates before and after the game. I drank far too little that day and hoped for the best.

After the game, we waited for Roberto to return. We’d told him we were in no rush, which was fine with him but apparently not okay with the four separate employees who either came over to see why we were still in our seats or simply yelled at us to leave. I had to keep waving my crutches at them so they wouldn’t forcibly evict us. Roberto eventually returned, and stopped on our way back so I could use the washroom. Unfortunately, neither he nor my partner noticed that I couldn’t open the heavy washroom door, which had no automatic-open button. After a few minutes of struggling, I got help from a kind older woman who was indignant that no one had already helped me. Thankfully, the washroom wasn’t crowded and I didn’t have to wait in line.

I’d say that wheelchair service helped a lot—Roberto was great!—but it wasn’t a solution to all my accessibility challenges; the stairs, the washroom, and especially the logistics of transportation to and from Wrigley Field were difficult to deal with.

This blog post is another entry in an ongoing conversation about accessibility at Wrigley Field. In January 2018, Wrigley Field was sued by a fan who alleged that recent renovations reduced the number and quality of accessible seats. As a result of that suit, the latest renovations include more wheelchair-accessible seats, washrooms, and elevators. This older article details a difficult experience at a Cubs home game and explains how historic properties like Wrigley Field are sometimes exempt from total ADA compliance.

Accessibility around Wrigley Field

The biggest difficulties I faced weren’t in the stadium, but around it. We got a ride from our hotel to Wrigley Field and the driver shared some important information that Wrigley employees hadn’t mentioned: the city of Chicago closes the streets for several blocks around Wrigley Field before, during, and after games. Additionally, streets and parking lots all over the city were closed that week for Lollapalooza. We arrived early enough to avoid the blockades, but the driver warned us that we wouldn’t be able to get a ride anywhere near Wrigley after the game ended. Indeed, after Roberto dropped me back off at the entrance, we had two bad options: hop several blocks to a place where we could meet a ride, or attempt the subway. The Red Line stop near Wrigley Field has an elevator, so we chose the subway. It was pretty miserable: I had to hop a fair distance to the station, wait in a long ticket line, and then hop to the train platform. By the time I sat down on the train, I was sweaty and near tears, which was embarrassing.

Our hotel was several blocks from the closest subway stop, so I waited at a bus stop while my partner walked back to the hotel and got our wheelchair. The bus stop, with its divided three-person bench, was the only place we could find for me to sit down: Chicago seems to have a pretty bad hostile architecture problem, and public spaces are almost completely devoid of seating. When we had called Wrigley Field about accessibility options, we’d been told that there was nowhere for us to store a wheelchair inside, but that we could chain it to a bike rack. As silly as that sounds, it’s what I’d do if I ever found myself in this situation again. Trying to use crutches to fill the gaps between public transit and our destinations wasn’t a good decision. The wheelchair wasn’t a perfect solution, though: in some places, crosswalks ended at six-inch-high curbs, and badly damaged, uneven pavement trapped the wheels and jostled my broken foot. My partner ended up with back pain from pushing me around the city.

Accessibility was a challenge on this trip, and while Wrigley Field was reasonably accommodating, the city of Chicago was not. I hope this account of my experience is helpful to anyone looking for accessibility information about Cubs games. This is only part of my story, though; the fun part gets its own post. Stay tuned!