Cubs To Pay $388,000 To Clean Up, Fix Grant Park After Huge Rally
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Cubs will pay nearly $400,000 for cleanup and repairs at Grant Park, following the massive World Series victory rally there earlier this month.
The Chicago Park District confirmed the Cubs will pay $388,000 to cover the costs of new sod for parts of Lower Hutchinson Field, for cleaning up all the trash left behind after the rally and for fixing damaged fences and other landscaping.
For some perspective, the Cubs' tab for fixing the damage to Hutchinson Field and repairing fencing will be nearly as much as they paid some of their best players this year. Second baseman Javier Baez was paid $521,000, left fielder Kyle Schwarber's salary was $522,000, shortstop Addison Russell was paid $527,000 and Cy Young award finalist Kyle Hendricks' salary was $541,000. Even National League MVP Kris Bryant made only $652,000 in salary, so the Grant Park cleanup cost the Cubs nearly half as much as their best player.
The park was cleaned up right away after the rally, and repairs to the grass and fences should be completed in the next few weeks, if the weather cooperates.
Earlier this year, Lollapalooza organizers paid $453,000 to for cleanup and repairs to the same area of Grant Park after the rainy four-day music festival.
The cost to fix Grant Park after the Cubs' big party comes out to 8 cents per person at the rally, if you believe city estimates that there were 5 million people at the parade and rally. Those estimates have been called into question, but it certainly appeared to the naked eye that the Cubs' victory celebration was larger than those held for the Blackhawks' three Stanley Cup championships since 2010 or the World Series parade and rally for the White Sox in 2005.