CHICAGO — The perfect fall weather in Chicago and the turning of the ivy reminds us that Game 3 of the World Series could have been set for Monday night at Wrigley Field.

Alas, the Chicago Cubs did not cooperate, falling to the San Diego Padres in two straight games of the wild-card series, leaving the ballpark empty this October for all but the security guards, groundskeepers and tour groups.

But there has been a lot of activity around Wrigley, thanks in part to the Cubs’ early playoff exit. The Cubs are currently ripping up sidewalks outside the park for security updates, including the addition of bollards, in conjunction with the planned 2027 All-Star Game. The cost of the $32.1 million plan is being shared by the city, state and the Cubs, who are paying around $8 million.

The project began on Oct. 12, or 13 days after the Cubs were eliminated in the playoffs, and includes the installation of security-rated bollards along Addison Street, Clark Street, Waveland Avenue and Sheffield Avenue, the relocation of light poles and widening the Addison Street sidewalk by four feet.

The Cubs said commemorative bricks affected by construction “will be preserved and relocated” to two paver quadrants south of Gate 15 on Sheffield Avenue. The bulk of the work is expected to be finished by March 25, 2027, with some final asphalt work by the end of April, weather permitting.

The Cubs announced that Sheffield Avenue is closed to vehicular traffic from Addison Street to Waveland Avenue through early December, and the west sidewalk outside the bleacher walls is closed to pedestrians. Waveland Avenue will be closed to westbound traffic from Clark Street to Sheffield Avenue through early March, and the south sidewalk is closed to pedestrians until then. The sidewalk on the north side of Addison is closed through mid-January, and the east sidewalk on Clark Street adjacent to Gallagher Way and the marquee entrance will be closed from mid-November through mid-December.

There are no college sporting events scheduled at the stadium this fall since Northwestern opened new Ryan Field and no longer plays football at Wrigley late in the season.

The Wrigley All-Star game is scheduled for July 13, 2027, though the threat of an owners’ lockout in December could derail those plans or force MLB to reschedule the event, depending on a settlement date.

Asked during the All-Star announcement in 2025 if there was a contingency plan should a work stoppage affect the schedule, commissioner Rob Manfred replied: “Look, my contingency plan is to make an agreement with the players and play the 2027 season.”

But the start of the ’27 season appears to be in jeopardy over the owners’ insistence on a salary cap — and a floor — to create more “competitive balance.” The MLB Players Association is adamantly against a salary cap, which it has successfully fought against since the 1990s, so it’s likely a matter of which side blinks first.

If the Wrigley All-Star Game is not played in ’27, the Cubs would probably have to wait until 2029. The ’28 game is scheduled for San Francisco, and it’s too late to reschedule that one.

The event is a huge undertaking, and Chairman Tom Ricketts and president of business operations Crane Kenney spent eight years trying to get three different Chicago mayors to help with the security measures that ultimately convinced MLB to award the Cubs the game. Current Mayor Brandon Johnson was the one who got it done in 2025.

Kenney said at the 2017 Cubs Convention the team was shooting for the 2020 All-Star Game, which eventually was awarded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and then cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic that delayed the start of the season. The Dodgers later hosted it in 2022.

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The Cubs wanted security upgrades regardless of the game, and as far back as 2017, Kenney asked for the city to shut down Clark and Addison streets a couple of hours before game time, as Boston did for the streets around Fenway Park, home of the Red Sox. The possibility of a terrorist attack from outside the park was the impetus for change in normal operating procedures.

“I think everyone in Boston recognizes the same risks that we on our side see in Chicago, unfortunately,” Kenney told the Chicago Tribune. “It’s now one of the issues we deal with as large venues in the country, or in the world. We’re targets. What makes obvious sense in Boston, like most things in Chicago, it’s just a little more difficult.”

The Cubs haven’t hosted the All-Star Game since 1990, when it was a relatively quaint affair. Cubs All-Star Ryne Sandberg hit three home runs in the ’90 Home Run Derby, which was won 4-1 by the NL team under a different set of rules. In the current Home Run Derby setup, a contestant can hit three home runs in less than 30 seconds.

The media contingent is also considerably larger, especially with the Japanese media on hand to cover their country’s stars, including Shohei Ohtani and White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami. Among the ideas being debated last year was putting some media overflow on the rooftops across the street.

It’s a long way until July 13, but the Cubs are proceeding as though the game will not be affected by any labor unrest.

So while the rival Milwaukee Brewers try to secure their first World Series title ever, the work goes on outside Wrigley Field to improve security.

Hopefully Jed Hoyer and the baseball operations department are working to improve the bullpen with the same sense of urgency.

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