At approximately 4 p.m today, Evansville will take yet another step back with the demolition of the Executive Inn in favor of a uniform and unoriginal Hyatt Place. Although it seems to be quite progressive to demolish an old hotel in favor of a brand new one, we are unfortunately about to witness another project aimed at mediocrity.
Bought by Mr. Bob Green in 1967, the Executive Inn has been known for providing great entertainment and food with cheap hotel prices. While I don't like that Mr. Green made his money off coal mining and interstate building, I love the attitude he had towards downtown Evansville. Mr. Green built the "Big E" into an empire with famous singers playing there constantly, an always higher than 80% occupancy rate, and a thriving downtown hotel complex with a massive parking garage and a convention center nearby. Mr. Green was very aggressive in advancing downtown Evansville.
Here is more on Bob Green...
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/sep/06/legacy-fades/
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/sep/06/all-four-executive-inns-on-last-legs/?partner=RSS
By far and away, my favorite Bob Green quote was the one in the first article where he said Evansville, "wasn't progressive enough." I firmly believe that Mr. Green wouldn't be happy with today's development.
In my opinion, there are three principles to having a progressive city...
1. You respect your town's history.
2. You commit to constructing the best buildings that modern architecture can build.
3. You make sure your town's old buildings work hand-in-hand with your design to have brand new shiny buildings.
So far, Evansville has failed in all three categories. Gone are the old Sterling Brewery, the old L&N Station, the Orr Building, and many others, while at the same time Evansville has built the dull Civic Center, the dull Federal Building & Post Office, and the dull New North. To top it all off, many historical buildings have been demolished only to be replaced by a parking lot. Bob Green is right, there is nothing progressive about Evansville.
Through it all, one group has emerged from the dust to get us moving forward. That group is the Kunkel Group. They have used the three points above and executed them perfectly to a t.
Let's take a look at some of the developments the Kunkel Group has partaken in...
http://www.kunkelgroup.com/
THE OLD KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS HALL
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/feb/10/new-life-for-old-building/
Located just across the street from the Coliseum, the old Knights of Columbus hall has been around since 1911. Over the years, the building has been the home of the Liederkranz Maennerchor, the local Knights of Columbus, and finally the local Republican Party in 1968.
Instead of razing this great structure, the Kunkel group gutted the interior and is now in the construction phase of placing assisted living units inside the building. Once completed, the building will have spas, granite appliances, stainless steel appliances, 24-hour staff, among many other perks.
It will be good to see the area around the Coliseum come back to life. Local preservation officer Dennis Au put it best when he told the Courier & Press, "I think it's a good idea. The building still had character, and it certainly has had a place in Evansville's history."
THE OLD WHIRLPOOL PLANT
http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=135&ArticleID=59813
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/apr/01/kunkel-group-purchases-majority-former-whirlpool-p/?partner=RSS
During WWII, the old Whirlpool Plant was Evansville's main factory for the war effort. Inside the plant, which was owned by Republic Aviation Corp, more than 6,200 P-47 Thunderbolt fighters were manufactured. This building was to military airplanes what the current Mead Johnson's parking lot was to LSTs.
After WWII, Evansville became the "Refrigerator Capital of the World," due to the fact that more than 10,000 Evansvillians worked in refrigerator plants including this building which was sold to Whirlpool Corp.
Last year, Whirlpool bolted for Mexico leaving our historic big blue building without its main tenant (minus Whirlpool's product development department). Last month, the Kunkel Group stepped up to the plate to keep the building going. Not only did they save the building, they also recruited Crosspoint Polymer Technologies who specializes in recycling plastics.
THE OLD JC PENNEY BUILDING
http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.com/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=73&ArticleID=23278
One of downtown Main Street's great buildings, the old JC Penney building sat vacant for over 24 years when its main tenant relocated to Eastland Mall.
Instead of letting Main Street (one of our premier streets downtown) rot away, the Kunkel Group decided to do something about it in 2005. They began renovating the facility into 23 condominiums while keeping the great exterior of the building intact.
Kunkel Group founder Ben Kunkel summed it up best when he told the Courier & Press, "We want to blend the old with the new in the renovation."
THE OLD DEJONG'S BUILDING
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2006/dec/16/meridian-plaza-unveiled/
Similar to the old JC Penney building, the old Dejong's building has a great facade facing Main Street but had lost its main tenant.
Instead of letting historic Main Street see another vacant building, the Kunkel Group took action once more. Today, the building is known as Meridian Plaza and currently houses 31 condominiums. Piece by piece, the Kunkel Group is bringing back our historic Main Street.
THE OLD WELBORN HOSPITAL
http://www.14wfie.com/story/11384012/kunkel-group-purchases-old-hospital?clienttype=printable&redirected=true
It seems like just yesterday when I was on a tour of Welborn Hospital after they renovated several parts of the building including the cancer center floor where my grandma worked. Although the building has been around since the 1920's, it was quickly shuttered when St. Mary's purchased Welborn Hospital.
After 3 years of vacancy, St. Mary's agreed to sell the facility to the Kunkel Group. Currently, the Kunkel Group is converting the building over to luxury rental apartments and downtown office space.
It's good to see the old Welborn Hospital coming back to life!
Year after year, Evansville has watched the Kunkel Group take historic buildings after historic buildings that have been written off as too old, too dilapidated, and/or too big for the market and turn them into profitable buildings without compromising their great designs. It should be pretty obvious to anyone in Evansville who has seen these buildings that the Kunkel Group knows what they are talking about.
Personally, I felt like the new arena should have been built parallel to Main Street instead of perpendicular to it because it would have allowed for us to incorporate the Main Street facades into the arena while keeping the Big E intact. However, back in 2009, we were told by Browning Investments that we could do both the new arena and a renovated Executive Inn if we would just tear down the northern side of the building. This plan was pitched to us by city hall as a win-win. But then, things changed. Suddenly Browning Investments never secured funding for the Executive Inn and was unable to come through with the renovation.
Once the developer selection process opened up, the Kunkel Group was the only group of the four who believed that we could save the Big E...
http://www.indianaeconomicdigest.net/main.asp?SectionID=31&SubSectionID=130&ArticleID=56050
"Does it matter if we have a 40-year old floor or a new floor?" he said. "Does it matter if we have a 40-year old pipes or new pipes? Those things are there. Let's use them."Unfortunately, city hall refused to listen to the Kunkel Group and today we had to say goodbye to the great gift that Bob Green gave us. I'm still in disbelief at why the city would ignore such a great local company who undoubtedly would have been able to work their magic on the Big E as well.
This is what the Big E looked like back in the day (1991)...
http://www.courierpress.com/photos/2009/sep/05/45023/
and this is what we are getting now...
http://www.courierpress.com/photos/2010/dec/21/75118/
I don't know about you, but it seems pretty clear that we are replacing a legend with a lemon. In my opinion here is what we could have done with the Big E...
1. Replace the electric red ribbon that lit up the downtown skyline at night with a new electric red ribbon. This would bring more attention to the arena district.
2. Build back the tower that was between the northern and southern sections of the building. This would make for a great observation deck to look over both downtown Evansville and the new arena. If the red triangle on top would have been left intact, it would also add to the great design of the new arena.
3. Bring back the Walnut Street marque. This would have allowed us to pitch the vintage image of the Big E while leaving room to convert Walnut street to Bob Green's dream which was a main boulevard.
After today, all of that is out the window so now we are going to be stuck with a "Hyatt Place." How original is a Hyatt Place? Well take a look at the photos of most of their locations...
http://www.hyatt.com/hyatt/place/locations/;jsessionid=DC330A8A46FB59EF9D2EDA95612E5FF7.atg01-prd-atg1?type=clear&N=450+4294967253
Since most of their hotels are so similar in design, they use the exact same photos for just about every one of their 50 hotels. Just about every one of their hotels takes the shape of one of their 3/4 cookie cutter designs. Personally, I think this design looks eerily similar to Deaconess Hospital (which isn't a good thing).
According to wikipedia, Hyatt Places are "designed as a limited service offering targeted to the business traveler," and " are located in urban, airport and suburban areas." In other words, Hyatt Places belong out by cookie cutter hotels like the ones Dunn Hospitality owns on the east side, not downtown in the middle of an urban renewal project.
While we can't do anything about Bob Green's great hotel being reduced to rubble and a new dull, boring cookie cutter hotel moving in, we do need to learn from this project if we are going to make sure this doesn't happen to Roberts Stadium. This is what we should take from this project...
1. There is nothing that can replace Roberts Stadium. Once Roberts Stadium is gone, it's gone, and there is nothing whatsoever that we can put on the lot that will be as great of an icon for Evansville than Roberts Stadium has been.
2. City hall needs to let the Kunkel Group work its magic. The Kunkel Group has saved a lot of great buildings here in Evansville. We are blessed to have a company this talented in our city. If city hall does form a Roberts Stadium task force, the Kunkel Group has to be on it as I believe they will give a good faith effort to make sure Roberts Stadium sticks around for many more years to come.
3. When one of our leaders retires, we need to make sure another person who continues in their foot steps is just as determined. First we were given great architect Ralph Legeman who designed Roberts Stadium, now we have the Kunkel Group stepping up for our historic buildings. First we were given Hank Roberts who built Roberts Stadium, now we are given Rick Davis who is dedicated to saving this great venue. First we were given Bob Green, now we have been given nobody, and we are going to end up with an inferior hotel. This is why we have to make sure we put the right leaders in the right decision making positions! Leadership, knowledge, and determination are everything!
4. Urban renewal only fails when we demolish our history. I'm one of the biggest fans of the new arena. I think it will do great things for Evansville over the years. However, I was against the demolition of the Big E and I am VERY MUCH against the demolition of Roberts Stadium. I believe that we have a duty to our city to continue to push for city hall to build more great facilities such as the new arena. But, if we start demolishing our history, we will be left with a soulless town.
5. Demolition of an old building doesn't always mean you're making progress. Progress can't be measured by newness of a facility. Rather, it is measured by the amount of impact a building has on its surroundings. While the new arena will have a tremendous impact on its surroundings, Roberts Stadium has and always will mean the world to local citizens here in Evansville. No matter what building you would want to put on the lot, it will never do for Evansville what Roberts Stadium has done, thus saving Roberts Stadium is just as progressive as building the new arena.
Overall, I am quite disappointed in the demolition of the Big E in favor of building a dull, boring cookie cutter hotel. I feel like Evansville is making a tremendous mistake by not listening to the Kunkel Group and retaining the legendary Bob Green's Executive Inn.
With all of that being said, I believe it is crucial to our cause that we learn from this mistake. We need to get the word out loud and clear...... SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!
(photo credit: robertstadium.com, a great website!)
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