Wrigley Field Crews Getting Grounds Ready For Northwestern Wildcats Game With Purdue
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Once again, Wrigley Field no longer looks like a baseball park, but instead a football stadium.
Groundcrews were hard at work as Northwestern is hosting Purdue on Saturday, Nov. 20.
In coordination with the NCAA and the Big Ten, crews have made sure there will be no last minutes issues this time around when Northwestern faces Purdue a week from Saturday.
The Friendly Confines also had Northwestern on the field against Illinois back in 2010.
At that time, only one end zone was usable due to the dimensions of the ballpark. An aerial view showed renovations, some reconfigured seating and a movable dug out. There's a full field with two goal posts are now in play. The purple lines are going down and there are Wildcats signs to make it all look official.
"When you look at this stadium which is over 100 years old, and the history here, the ability for us to innovate and be able to do events, whether it's soccer or football, it just showcases the potential of not only this amazing ballpark but this amazing campus that we have here," said Julian Green, Vice President of Communications for the Chicago Cubs.
One of the big changes to the configuration is the Cubs' home dugout has actually been removed along with some seating down the third base line to make more room for the football field.
With no home dugout, the Northwestern players will actually go through the stands to get on the field, and will use the bullpen area at halftime.
There are still limited tickets available in a wide range of prices, from $60 on up.
The Cubs would like the host many more football games at Wrigley, which was also the home of the Bears from 1921 until 1970.
"Our hope is that we have at least one football game a year, and that's something that we're looking at – and yes, we're definitely open to hosting bowl games here," Green said. "I think you've seen other bowl games happening at baseball stadiums like Yankee Stadium, so that's something certainly we're interested in hosting here."
