Each Stadium, Ballpark, & Arena Brings Something Special To Its Community

(photo credit: horshgallery.com)

If you're a frequent traveler like I am, you have probably seen many ballparks, stadiums, and arenas of all different shapes and sizes all across the U.S and Canada.

As of right now, I have visited 25 of the 30 current MLB ballparks, 26 of the 29 NBA arenas (as well as Key Arena in Seattle), and 28 of the current 31 NFL stadiums. I have been to former venues such as the Old National Guard Armory in Minneapolis, MN where the Lakers were born, Texas Stadium, the land where Sportsman's Park use to be, the land where Veteran's Stadium use to be, and many others. I have also been to sites that are projected to be future sports venue sites such as the Cal Expo Center in Sacramento, the Atlantic Rail Yards in Brooklyn, NY, and the Boeing plant in Renton, WA.

I have never taken a vacation in my life without visiting at least one sports venue, and I'm not alone in doing this. Since the mid 1990s when Camden Yards was built, Major League Baseball has begun designing each of their ballparks to replicate the tastes, fashions, and culture of the city the ballpark is in. Now, the NFL and the NBA have joined in. Since each sports venue now pays tribute to the city it is in, many fans nationwide have taken road trips all across North America to take in these cultural icons.

Here are a few of the venues I have been too (in no particular order)...

Omaha's Rosenblatt Stadium (Omaha)

Florida's Ben Hill Griffin Stadium ( The Swamp) (Gainesville)



Shea Stadium (NYC)



Yankee Stadium (NYC)



Safeco Field (Seattle)




Memorial Coliseum (Lexington)




Progressive Park (Cleveland)



PNC Park (Pittsburgh)



Freedom Hall (Louisville)



Qwest Field (Seattle)



Georgia Dome (Atlanta)



The Ballpark At Arlington (Arlington, Tx)




And The New Evansville Arena (before construction)



As you can see, each sports venue is unique and gives you a taste of the city it's in. Very few, if any, venues look alike. Even the new Yankee Stadium looks somewhat different than old Yankee Stadium. And that is what is important to remember here with Roberts Stadium.

Roberts Stadium will be 55 years old this October. This building gives us a taste of Evansville's history. When you step into those four walls, you should be surrounded by Evansville's past. What can we do to Roberts Stadium to commemorate the past?

1. We can set up statues of Hank Roberts and Ralph Legeman. These two men were larger than life. Hank Roberts sacrificed his political career so that he could accomplish what only Mayor Weinzapfel has now accomplished: Build a premier arena.

Ralph Legeman gave us and the whole world the Midwest field house design. Only the state of Indiana can lay claim to the biggest high school gymnasium due to Legeman's vision of redesigning arenas in a field house fashion. Roberts Stadium is Legeman's biggest gymnasium in all of the Midwest. Even his house here in Evansville is a replica of Roberts Stadium.

Two statues outside of Roberts Stadium would tell the story of both of these men. They also would be a fundraiser for the community ( I will be talking about this in a few posts coming up). They would tell visitors just how important these two men were to the construction of Roberts Stadium.

2. We can deck Roberts Stadium's halls with Evansville sports and concert history. A lot of history took place inside of Roberts Stadium. Although there are some artifacts currently inside of Roberts Stadium, some of it will be moving to the new arena, and I think we can do much better.

I'll never forget my one trip to Franklin Street on the campus of the University of North Carolina. I went inside a small restaurant on this street and sat down in their main dining room. On the wall inside that room is a HUGE painting of a scene from the 1993 Final Four where UNC defeated the University of Michigan as Chris Webber was calling a timeout he did not have. The mural is so big that you can't help but feel like you were at the 1993 Final Four.

That's what we need to do with the main level at Roberts Stadium. We need to reach out to the art departments at UE and USI to see if they have any "starving artists" who want to get their foot in the door. If so, we can have them paint murals to commemorate special Roberts Stadium time periods, whether it be Jerry Sloan and Larry Humes bringing home the championship over Walt Frazier and the Southern Illinois Salukis, the grieving of the 1977 Aces, and/or the day Scott Hafner dropped 65 points on the University of Dayton.

When visitors walk into Roberts Stadium, they shall see the impact this vintage arena has had on the community. Yes, the new arena's "Corridor of Champions," will do a good job telling some of the history while giving us a vision for the future with our new facility, but only Roberts Stadium can give visitors that authentic and special feel as they walk through the history of Evansville and Roberts Stadium.

Have you ever been to the Shirley James Greenway Trail Head? If so, why don't we leave the doors of Roberts Stadium open on non-game days, construct a walkway around the main level, and let Roberts Stadium be the indoor version of the Shirley James Greenway Trail Head?

3. We can construct buildings around Roberts Stadium to replicate Roberts Stadium's design and theme. While I am completely against the proposal to build an indoor tennis facility in Wesselman Park, I would fully support building a botanical garden next door to Roberts Stadium, replanting the back lot, and construction of a new Hartke Pool complex which would consist of an indoor water park resort, a senior citizens and EVSC indoor pool, and a new outdoor pool complex. While funding may not be available for all these projects at once, we can and would get the funding if we put together a panel of citizens who had the power and energy to get it done.

Unfortunately, when Roberts Stadium was renovated in the early 1990s (which was a duct tape solution over building a new $78 million downtown arena), we lost a special part of Roberts Stadium: The eaves and brackets that lined the outdoor walls of Roberts Stadium.

If we are ever going to consider adding more recreational activities and buildings to the Roberts Stadium parking lot, we must bring back the eaves and brackets of the original Roberts Stadium. If we use a good architect such as the Kunkel Group, we can blend the old with the new.

We can also take the Roberts Stadium theme of vintage basketball and implement it in our Hartke Pool complex. At Big Splash Water Adventure in French Lick, they use a tropical, Carribean, and pirate theme. Why don't we simply use a basketball theme which will draw tourists to the resort?

We Should Do The Same Thing With The Ball Fields

As you looked at the pictures of the stadiums, ballparks, and arenas above, did you notice any dull, boring, and lifeless designs? No, you saw vintage designs, modern designs, outdoor designs, indoor designs, retractable roof designs, water designs, ballpark village designs, and designs with a mixture of all of these characteristics. So why would we want to build 8 boring and dull softball fields on the Roberts Stadium ground?

If you think that building the fields proposed by Dunn and the ECVB would inspire tourists to want to play there, think again. We can and should do better with our ball fields as well. What should we do with them?...

1. Build them at Kleymeyer Park, and build them to replicate vintage MLB ballparks. Take a look at these...

http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/replica-fields

Wouldn't you say that those fields have a little bit more life to them? And wouldn't you say that those fields belong next to Bosse Field, the third oldest active ballpark in the U.S? The answer should be yes on both of those questions. Build the fields to look like Yankee Stadium, Tiger Stadium, The Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, Fenway Park, Crosley Field, and Sportsman's Park, and Wrigley Field.

Even better is the fact that 3 of those fields (Wrigley, Sportsman's, and Crosley) would be next to the actual parks which either were or are currently in the Midwest. They would all be within driving distance of tourists. The other 5 are all in the Northeast (Tiger Stadium is on the fence in Detroit) corridor which is still within a days driving distance. If you build it, they will come!

2. Decorate the Bosse Field district to replicate baseball's Golden Age. During the Golden Age of Baseball, many of MLB's greatest athletes and teams existed...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_age_of_baseball

Bosse Field has been around before, during, and after the Golden Age of Baseball. How many other ballparks can say that? Not too many! Instead of letting Garvin Park, Kleymeyer Park, and the rest of the Bosse Field district continue to rot, why don't we take advantage of this great history?

If you go to Fenway Park in Boston, you can't miss Yawkey Way outside of the ballpark. That is how you properly market a vintage ball field...

(photo credit: boston.com)

You will also see this at Wrigleyville outside of Wrigley Field...

(photo credit: timeoutchicago.com)

If we build these fields correctly, we can really rejuvenate the Bosse Field district. Once again, we could commission the art students and engineers from UE and USI to draw and create vintage banners, vintage paintings, vintage brick streets, rooftops overlooking Bosse Field (where the championship games would be played), and eventually historic street cars.

That is the kind of power these fields can unleash on their surrounding Bosse Field district.

Basically, the main point that I would like to get across with this post is that we have to realize that each stadium, ballpark, and arena is different and brings something unique to the table. Since the whole debate about what to do with Roberts Stadium has begun, it has ALWAYS been the new arena versus Roberts Stadium.

I just don't understand that form of logic. The new arena, while too small, is still going to be a great and magnificent thing for our community. It will tell visitors the vision Evansville has for being a great city on the Ohio River. It will also give them a glimpse of the future with its state-of-the-art scoreboards, seats, luxury boxes, and concourse. It will bring downtown Evansville into the 21st century. The main thing you should take from the new arena is the fact that it points to where we are going.

On the other hand, Roberts Stadium reminds us of where we came from and who we are. It reminds us of our great citizens such as Ralph Legeman and Hank Roberts, it reminds us of the great history we have here with the Aces, and it reminds us that we should be respectful towards our history.

With Bosse Field, we can have both a vision for the future and a reminder of our great past. We can show visitors the great history we have with our 96 year old ballpark, our working class North Main Street, and our street car system of the 20th century. We can also show them our vision for a revitalized North Main Street, a vibrant and rejuvenated Bosse Field District, and a 21st century Pigeon Creek Greenway.

To say that we can only have a great future if we sacrifice our historic past, or that we can only pay tribute to our historic past if we sacrifice our bold vision for the future is wrong on all accounts. In my opinion, we will never get anywhere on any project of any kind until we start buying into this basic belief.

Let's celebrate our future when the new arena opens up in November, but let's pay tribute to our past as well by building the ball fields at Kleymeyer Park and SAVING ROBERTS STADIUM!


(photo credit: geocities.com)

We Are Rolling In The River City

(photo credit: Ron Leishman)

This past week, we couldn't have gotten any better news for both the new arena and Roberts Stadium. Let's take a look at some of the things that have happened in these past 72 hours...

Mayor Weinzapfel passes the decision of Roberts Stadium to the next mayor

This piece of news was the first thing that got the ball rolling on our momentum. Like I said in the post "Punting Til 2012," I really wish I would have had the opportunity to work with Mayor Weinzapfel on the process of renewing Roberts Stadium but I'm very satisfied that he chose to pass on closing it down early and demolishing it.

Earlier this week, things were looking very grim as the Parks Department was seeking an August 3rd date for closing Roberts Stadium, which is a whole 3 months before the new arena will be coming online. To me, this had demolition written all over it. To demolish Roberts Stadium before the next mayor takes office, the current city hall would have had to closed Roberts Stadium early.

Thankfully, Mayor Weinzapfel made the right decision. I'm hoping that by now he truly understands the great nostalgia Roberts Stadium has within its four walls. We need to make sure we make a good faith effort to keep this Evansville icon going. Thank you Mayor Weinzapfel for choosing to avoid the wrecking ball!

10,000 strong for Roberts Stadium

Yesterday evening, this blog saw its 10,000th visitor click on the site. I am very proud of this accomplishment and I can't thank you the viewers enough. When I started this blog, I never dreamed it would be this successful. There's no doubt that Roberts Stadium still stands because you the viewers of this blog and residents of Evansville stepped up to the plate for this historical building. I hope that you have found the content to be of the highest quality and will continue supporting both this blog and Roberts Stadium. I have a bold vision that one day Roberts Stadium will thrive like it did in the 20th century while the Bosse Field district is coming back to life with 8 vintage MLB ball fields at Kleymeyer Park. I hope you will help me make this a reality! Thank you viewers of this blog!

2,012 for 2012

I can also report to you that in the past 30 days this blog has seen exactly 2,012 people click on the site. I find this to be highly ironic given that 2012 will now be the year that will decide Roberts Stadium's fate going forward. Once more, I am also proud that we have assembled 2,012 strong for 2012. Every time a challenge has been brought in front of Roberts Stadium and its supporters, we have answered the bell. We have one last bell to answer and that is 2012. Let's save Roberts Stadium in the year 2012! Thank you viewers of this blog!

We are now going to get a hotel with a great design

Yesterday, it was also revealed that the city has decided to basically start anew with the hotel project and the Kunkel Group, which is in the driver's seat to be the developer, unveiled an amazing design for the new hotel. Here it is from the aerial view...

http://yfrog.com/ke438ij

While it is not the Big E (nothing will ever be), it is certainly the best design. We will now be getting a sleek and curvy hotel with a plaza on the site of the former Executive Inn that will house a brand new restaurant. Last month, I talked about the need for city hall to let the Kunkel Group work their magic...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/05/if-only-they-would-have-listened-to.html

That is exactly what Mayor Weinzapfel did and it's going to be great for downtown Evansville. If we are going to build a brand new hotel next to our arena, it has to be state-of-the-art just like our new arena. I am excited about this hotel and I hope you are too.

With that being said, I hope the Kunkel Group will consider paying tribute to Bob Green and the Executive Inn with their outdoor plaza area. How could they do that?

- Place two replica red triangle tops on the sides of the plaza that replicate the ones that were on the Big E.
- Place electronic red "E" signs on each side of the plaza that replicate the ones that were on the Big E.
- Place a plaque in the middle that will tell the story of Bob Green.

I think those three things would really make the outdoor plaza look great while paying tribute to Mr. Bob Green and the Executive Inn at the same time.

The sooner we can break ground on this new hotel the better. Once more, thank you Mayor Weinzapfel and thank you Kunkel Group!

City hall still has the Main Street archway

Do you remember the tall black arch with the white circle in the middle that welcomed tourists and residents to Main Street? If you don't here is a picture of it...

http://www.evansvillecvb.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/DetailGlamourScaleCrop/content/node_images/04-01a.png

Since this archway was removed, I feared that the city had decided to junk it. That would have been terrible for our Main Street design which has always been symbolized by this archway and its twin at the corner of Main Street and 2nd Street. Fortunately, I just found out this week from the new arena's facebook group that Mayor Weinzapfel's administration stored the archway when it was removed and is now debating where to place it. I'm very excited and hopeful that this archway will grace the Main Street bricks once more this fall.

Although it may sound crazy, I have always felt that Main Street looks naked without this archway at the corner of Main Street and MLK. Luckily, we should be getting this archway back. Thank you Weinzapfel administration!

Overall, this past week has been good news after good news for both our downtown arena, which will need a new hotel and a vibrant Main Street, and Roberts Stadium which is now holding on stronger than ever. These next 50 years will be determined by what we do in the next 12 months. If we keep Roberts Stadium, build a grand hotel while paying tribute to Bob Green, and bring back the nostalgia of Main Street, we might just be on our way to building a great city.

I appreciate Mayor Weinzapfel who made some tough but all correct decisions this week, and I appreciate you the viewers of this blog who have clicked on here in droves.

LET'S KEEP ROLLING IN THE RIVER CITY!

How Do The Mayoral Candidates Stack Up On Roberts Stadium?

(photo credit: Community-observer.com PLEASE support this great website!)

Now that Mayor Weinzapfel has placed the fate of Roberts Stadium in the hands of the next mayor, it is important to know how the two candidates feel about Roberts Stadium. I have been working on this since last year and I would like to share with you the feedback I have gotten from both candidates.

Before I start, I do want to point out that BOTH candidates were gracious enough to give me a part of their time. Although I am endorsing Rick Davis and am putting all my efforts and support into helping him get elected, I do feel like both candidates should have an active voice in Evansville's government moving forward.

Lloyd Winnecke

I reached out to Commissioner Winnecke back in October of 2010. I wanted to make sure he heard my voice not just on Roberts Stadium but the ball fields plan as well which was front and center at that time.

Commissioner Winnecke was generous enough to meet with me on Friday October 29th, 2010. During this meeting, Commissioner Winnecke agreed that he liked the idea of designing the ball fields to replicate vintage MLB style fields at Kleymeyer Park but that he could not support it until he saw a financial plan for it.

He also expressed his concern about Roberts Stadium saying that he could not support keeping the stadium intact until someone came to him with a financial plan. I told Mr. Winnecke that only the city can either A. assemble a committee or B. hire a firm to study reusing Roberts Stadium, but that there are several leads worth looking into. At that meeting, Commissioner Winnecke stated that Roberts Stadium should probably be "a hole in the ground," and did not commit to assembling a committee or studying Roberts Stadium.

On November 8th, 2010, I emailed Commissioner Winnecke the following email...

Commissioner Winnecke,

This is Jordan Baer. How have you been? I appreciate you meeting with me the Friday before last. Since I spoke with you about saving Roberts Stadium & building the ballfield complex at Kleymeyer Park with a vintage MLB style ballfields, I have found several more important things I would like to share with you. First, there is indeed a company that already makes fields that replicate the exact same 8 fields that I am proposing http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/replica-fields

Also, that company, Big League Dreams Sports Parks, builds their parks at NO TAXPAYER EXPENSE! http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/corporate/park-development

If you feel more comfortable with keeping David Dunn on the project, I have a 3 step plan to move his plan to Kleymeyer and why it's better and cheaper http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2010/11/few-simple-changes-will-mean-world-of.html

On the Roberts Stadium issue, I have a well-known group that is willing to study saving Roberts Stadium which I talk about on my blog http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2010/11/there-is-group-willing-to-study-roberts.html . The study is estimated at $32,500 which I talk about on my blog of why this is important

I appreciate your time,

Jordan Baer

On November 12th, 2010, I received this email response from Commissioner Winnecke (One line in this email has been bolded by me to show you the main point of this email. It was not bolded by Commissioner Winnecke)...

Jordan,

Sorry for the delay in responding, but it's been a crazy week.

I appreciate your update.

I'm reasonably confident that the softball project will be back burnered for a while. I am personally interested to know how some of the city's other parks and recreational needs can be met in a future discussion of ball fields.

As I previously mentioned, I don't believe the city can, or should, "save" Roberts Stadium. Additionally, given the events of the last two days, the future of Roberts is now an issue for city government and not county. I urge you to reach out to members of the City Council, and of course the mayor, to express your continued concerns over Roberts Stadium.

I appreciate your input. Have a good weekend.


Lloyd

Once more, I was unsuccessful in convincing Commissioner Winnecke to join the Save Roberts Stadium movement or push to have the ball fields constructed at Kleymeyer Park.

The main thing that surprises me with Commissioner Winnecke is that he is now calling for a committee to be assembled to study Roberts Stadium...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/feb/24/roberts-stadium-task-force-needed-says-evansville/?print=1

I have been in complete shock since the day I read this. Why is Commissioner Winnecke now calling for a committee? Was it because he had a genuine change of heart? Or, is it because the ball fields plan is now dead and it is politically safe to study Roberts Stadium? How genuine and serious is Commissioner Winnecke about a committee? Will his committee just be assembled in order to give Roberts Stadium it's 15 minutes before ultimately rejecting all ideas and demolishing it? Or, will this committee be allowed to go to all ends of the earth to compose a plan for Roberts Stadium that does what it needs to do: Save our historic 55 year old arena?

Only Commissioner Winnecke knows the answer to those questions, but needless to say, I'm still very nervous about the possibility of Roberts Stadium's fate being in the hands of a Winnecke administration.

Rick Davis

The first time I met Mr. Rick Davis was back in December when he was a guest on the show Newsmakers where I am a volunteer cameraman. Rick has been friendly, a class act, and a true supporter of Roberts Stadium since day 1. Here is the video from that episode of Newsmakers. If you go to the 13:45 mark you will hear Rick's vision for Roberts Stadium...

http://video.wnin.org/video/1681067634

On that day, Rick Davis became the first person to support the Save Roberts Stadium movement. To commemorate this great milestone, I made a post on this blog about Rick's support for Roberts Stadium. On December 26th, 2010, I received this email from Mr. Rick Davis...

"Dear Jordan: Wow. I just read your blog! I'm very humbled. I really
appreciate the kind words you have shared with the Facebook and blogosphere
worlds. I don't know if you knew this or not, but my first gig out of college
(actually, when I was still in high school) was as a sportswriter. I covered 90%
high school sports, but I had my occasional UK, U of L, and IU football and/or
basketball game. I even covered a couple of Colts games back when Jeff George
and Eric Dickerson were on the team (in other words, the WORST years to be a
Colts fan). I wish you well with your sports management career.

Getting back to Roberts, I have always said it's a good thing Michelangelo wasn't from Evansville. We have a very bad habit of tearing down beautiful, paid off
buildings. "Sistine Chapel, oh, it's old, tear it down and put in a parking
garage. St. Peter's Basilica, oh, it's old, tear it down, put in a pawn shop."
Now, don't get me wrong ... Roberts isn't the Sistine Chapel. But there is value
there. And tearing it down would be doing away with millions of dollars worth of
taxpayer funded materials; as well as priceless memories. Have a wonderful week,
and Happy New Year! Rick. "

Rick didn't stop there. Earlier this year, he placed a sticker on ALL of his flyers with this blogs URL on it and the message "Reinvent Roberts."

During committee meetings for his campaign and during town hall meetings for the public, Mr. Rick Davis has also let the people of Evansville know that...

1. He supports building the fields at Kleymeyer Park.

2. He likes the idea of replicating the fields to look like vintage MLB ballparks best.

3. When he is elected mayor, he will make cleaning up the parks his top priority and he will START with Garvin and Kleymeyer Parks.

While I hope that you will give both candidates a thorough amount of research before you go to the polls, I also hope you will consider the fate of not only Roberts Stadium but the Kleymeyer and Garvin Park district as well.

If you are looking for a candidate who will make sure our town respects Roberts Stadium and its 55 years of history by listening to the people, Rick Davis is your man.

If you are looking for a candidate who will finally give Kleymeyer & Garvin Parks their due, Rick Davis is your man.

And if you are looking for a candidate who will stop at nothing to SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM, Rick Davis is your man.

(photo credit: andypalumbo.blogspot.com)

Punting Til 2012

(photo credit: mondaymorningpunter.files.wordpress.com)

Today, it was announced that Mayor Weinzapfel would be punting on the fate of Roberts Stadium and handing it over to the next mayor of Evansville. I'm very excited and thrilled with this news because I feared that they were closing down Roberts Stadium early to prepare it for an early demolition.

With that aside, I have mixed feelings about today.

On the one hand, I am very happy that Mayor Weinzapfel will now be leaving office with a new arena on his resume and will not have the tarnished asterisk of being the one who demolished Roberts Stadium. History will now judge Mayor Weinzapfel favorly as he has given us a great gift while giving us the chance to keep the gift Mayor Roberts gave us 55 years ago. I thank him for his service and hope that he will have a place at the new arena named after him. After we have saved Roberts Stadium and reopened it, I welcome Mayor Weinzapfel to join me at the historic grounds to root for the home teams once more.

On the other hand, I am disappointed that I never got the opportunity to work with Mayor Weinzapfel on saving Roberts Stadium. I feel like we could already be working to make Roberts Stadium even better than it currently is, and I felt like he was open to ideas when I met with him last year. He agreed that replicating the softball fields after vintage MLB fields was a great idea and said he would be open to trying to do whatever he could to make Roberts Stadium viable. I am very disappointed that Mayor Weinzapfel will not be a part of the Roberts renewal process but I am satisfied with his current plan.

Now, you the viewers of this blog must realize just how important it is to vote Rick Davis in November. Rick has not only been behind the Save Roberts Stadium movement since day 1, he was also the first candidate to get behind it. Today, I owe Mr. Davis a huge thank you for all of his support for Roberts Stadium. If we are going to keep this momentum going we need to put Rick in the mayor's office.

Although, Mr. Winnecke told me via in person and email that he doesn't believe we can or should save Roberts Stadium, he has at least lightened his stance with the request from city hall to assemble a committee. I don't know if Mr. Winnecke plans on sticking with his belief that a committee shall be formed, but it would at least give us a fighting chance, although I believe that Rick Davis is by far and away our greatest hope for doing something special with Roberts Stadium.

Now we have a fresh amount of momentum going our way. We cannot let this go to waste. We have to get the word out about saving Roberts Stadium and we have to get the word out about voting for the candidates who have endorsed Roberts Stadium, whether it be Rick Davis, Al Lindsey, Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley, Dr. Dan Adams, or Lon Walters. Each of those candidates has committed to Roberts Stadium, now we must commit to them if we are going to succeed at this.

We also need to continue to be vocal. I want to see more letters from you the viewers in the Courier & Press. I want to see more emails being sent to City Council candidates next year. I also want to keep seeing those Save Roberts Stadium shirts that you the viewers purchased at cost earlier this year. Today would not have been possible without you the viewers and my hat is off to each and every one of you! Your support and efforts have meant everything to me!

While it's always good to have your team's quarterback take the ball down the field, sometimes it's not a bad idea to bring on your punter and play for field position. That is what we are doing today.

Keep the momentum going..... SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!

(photo credit: basketball-basic.com)

A Follow-Up To My Article In The C&P Today

(photo credit: Evansville Courier & Press)

Once again, I am very blessed to have been published in the Evansville Courier & Press today. While I certainly don't agree on their editorials dealing with Roberts Stadium and I-69, I am a HUGE fan of the C&P and love reading it every single day.

For those of you who have lived outside of Evansville like I have, you know how blessed and privileged we are to have the Evansville Courier & Press (as well as the City-County Observer). According to their website, they plan on unveiling a new look Tuesday which they say will make the site look better. I eagerly await this unveiling as I don't know how you can make the C&P any better.

I am truly grateful to the C&P for allowing me to post in their comments section for free, express my freedom of speech in their opinion section for free, and communicate news stories about Roberts Stadium to the Evansville region for free via the C&P. I hope that you the viewers of this blog will be encouraged to follow my article up with one of your pro-Roberts Stadium articles to the C&P. It's pretty simple, just type up a letter and email it to viewpoint@courierpress.com.

First of all, here is the article I wrote that is in today's C&P...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/jun/19/roberts-stadium-deserves-judgment-from-fair/

Now that the article has been published, a few opponents of saving Roberts Stadium have expressed their concerns and opinions about my ideas of saving Roberts Stadium and building the ball fields at Kleymeyer Park. I would like to respond to these posts...

"the new arena was built as a replacement facility for roberts stadium. why would we put any money into it to handle smaller trade shows, sporting events, and tournaments? the new arena was designed so that the top tier of seats can be curtained off so it turns into a smaller venue for just that purpose.

we certainly don't need a committee to tell us that roberts stadium is a money pit that serves no useful purpose. there is nothing the existing building or a remodeled one can do that the new arena can't. the building should be razed and the land should be returned to park use."

-- Della

The new arena was built as a replacement facility for Roberts Stadium as a PREMIER ARENA not as a MID-SIZE ARENA. This means that instead of renovating Roberts Stadium to give it a stronger roof, more club seats, suites, party rooms, and updated electronics, we decided to build a new arena downtown instead. I have agreed with this decision since day 1.

The problem is, the new arena will not be hosting mid-sized concerts, indoor semi-professional teams outside of the Icemen, high school basketball, medium sized trade shows, or youth soccer & basketball. Remember the Bluecats? They folded because their lease was too high with the city. We have the opportunity to fix that now.

Simply raising the curtains on the upper level will not change the fact that the new arena is going to be too expensive for these events. The investor I have who can supply all of these events has told me numerous times there is no way he is going to be able to go into the new arena. Not to mention, city hall has told me numerous times as well that we cannot do minor league basketball at the new arena because there are not enough open dates. Therefore, if we demolish Roberts Stadium, we will be passing on all of these events, not moving them downtown.

Also, how much will it cost to demolish Roberts Stadium, construct something new on the site, and then maintain it? If that option were cheaper or better, city hall would done have a plan on the board but they don't. Talk about a money pit!

He slams the current admin for not getting public support behind the new arena. He then praises Hank Roberts for sacrificing his career building Roberts. Is it possible the mayor is right like Hank Roberts was back in the 50's?
Roberts is finished. Only a baseball complex or a tourist attraction will work at that site. Otherwise it will be an eyesore and we will wonder why it wasn't torn down.

-- bigredmachine

There are many differences in the Hank Roberts administration and the current one. The obvious main difference is the fact that Hank Roberts did not demolish the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Coliseum. He proposed that it be an annex to the old courthouse. He did not rush to demolish it once Roberts Stadium went under construction.

I do feel like the current administration did handle the arena situation correctly at the start. They held public forums and brought in the architectural firm Populous which is the best of the best in the world of sports architecture. They even refused to be jaded by the "sewers before stadiums" movement which was nothing more than a political dog and pony show that completely ignored the fact that we just spent $25 million to widen Green River Road which will cause us to have to expand our sewer system over time.

After that, things then went a little south. I don't blame the current administration for the D-Patrick mess. I blame that solely on the car dealer who passed on several million dollars just because they thought they would get a little more money (which they didn't). However, once the current administration committed to building an arena that only seats 10,000-11,000 fans, required the demolition of half of the Big E and then all of the Big E, and then refused to fuse Roberts Stadium and the new arena together so that events such as the Jehovah Witness' Convention and the Tri-State Home Show could stay at Roberts Stadium. it all went down hill. Those events are better suited for Roberts Stadium while professional hockey, Aces basketball, premier concerts, and large conventions are better suited for the new arena. When Hank Roberts built Roberts Stadium he built it as big as he could for a 1950's arena in order to put Evansville on the map not construct a smaller venue than the Coliseum.

Also, the ball fields complex is the project that will become an eyesore. Did you ever see close up renderings of what the ball fields would look like? That's because they were dull, boring, and ordinary. That's not what we need on the land.

"The best location for a baseball complex is the Roberts stadium site. No other ball complex in the Midwest would have a skating rink, nature preserve, swimming complex, golf course, playground, and shopping and restaurants within walking distance or a short drive. For some reason people do not get this or they think 10 year olds and their parents will be drinking beer in the parking lots. Evansville will miss a golden opportunity to be "The Place for baseball/softball". Building somewhere else will make it just another baseball complex. A group that is objective about what is best for Evansville should make the decision."

-- bigredmachine

No, no, no, and no! The best location for the ball fields is still Kleymeyer Park which sits across Pigeon Creek from historic Bosse Field and Garvin Park. On that site, we can build 8 ball fields that will represent vintage Major League Baseball fields such as Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Tiger Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, Crosley Field, Sportsman's Park, and Wrigley Field. Want to know what they would look like?....

http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/replica-fields

Don't you think those fields would look a lot better than Dunn's?

That company also does theirs taxpayer free...

http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/corporate/park-development

The championship game for girl's softball tournaments could be played at historic Bosse Field, the site of the movie A League of Their Own. We cannot replicate baseball's Golden Age at Wesselman Park.

In regards to the location, how in the world is Roberts Stadium next to ANY retail other than Kipplee's? That is the whole problem with the site, it is landlocked. If you want to go to all the development on the east side from Roberts Stadium how would you go? Answer, you would take one road and then the Lloyd Expressway. If you are going from Kleymeyer Park to that same area how would you go? Answer, you would take one road and then the Lloyd Expressway. SAME THING.

What makes the Kleymeyer Park site much better for business is the fact that we have a golden opportunity to rebuild the north side of Evansville with these parks. If we build these parks at Kleymeyer, we will put First Avenue, Diamond Avenue, and Main Street in an excellent position to grow. What would be the closest hotel to Kleymeyer Park? Answer, our taxpayer funded downtown arena and convention hotel. Shouldn't that hotel be our priority?

Lastly, Kleymeyer Park and Garvin Park have putt-putt, swimming, the Greenway, basketball courts, a driving range, canoing, and a playground. That is what youth sports tournaments need.

Like I said in the post "Where Is Roberts Stadium's Due Process?," I will match up my design and location for the ball fields up against any plan that city hall has drawn up any time, any place, any where. I will also do the same for my plan to raise Roberts Stadium's floor.

If those who support demolition of Roberts Stadium firmly believe in their ideas then why don't they match them up against ours on a committee? The truth is, no one in the Wesselman Park area wants Roberts Stadium demolished, while just about everyone would welcome the ball fields at Kleymeyer Park.

Let's do the right thing, BUILD THE BALL FIELDS AT KLEYMEYER PARK, and SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!

Why Are They Running Scared From Roberts Stadium?

(photo credit: photobucket.com member bawsoot75)

In a very unusual twist of events, the Evansville Parks Department has begun negotiations to close Roberts Stadium three months before the new arena is scheduled to open...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/jun/17/evansville-proposes-closing-date-roberts-stadium/

To me, this plan (if we can call it one) makes absolutely no sense. While it does make sense to use Roberts Stadium as something other than a premier arena, the fact that city hall and the Parks Department are insisting that Roberts Stadium be closed well before the opening of the new arena and well before a decision has been made on Roberts Stadium reeks of mismanagement.

Let's take a look at some of the quotes from the article...

“I had to suggest something to get the ball rolling in that position,” Schall said. “If it didn’t work we’ll make a decision on what does.”

Why did the Parks Department suddenly feel the urge to begin negotiations to close Roberts Stadium but HAVE NEVER felt the urge to study reuse alternatives, host community hearings, or form a panel to meet and discuss what we could do with Roberts Stadium? It makes absolutely no sense to close down a venue when you have no idea what you're going to do with the venue and your new venue doesn't even open up until three months later.

Schall said uncertainty from the closing date springs from the lineup of events SMG had already scheduled to be held in the stadium. The date is one day after the scheduled performance of Bob Dylan.

Since the issue of what to do with Roberts Stadium has arisen, city hall has tried to scare the whole town into believing that we would be wasting money mothballing Roberts Stadium, yet our Parks Department wants to scratch multiple events that SMG has booked in favor of mothballing it for an undefined amount of time? Like I said in earlier posts, if Roberts Stadium is mothballed, city hall will have no one to blame but themselves.

Schall said a concrete date for the closure of the stadium could be formalized this week.

“We’ll have to see,” Schall said.

Why wasn't there a rush to find a reuse alternative for Roberts Stadium but now there is a rush to close it? Again, it makes absolutely no sense to me.

Earlier this week, Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel said his administration is considering setting money aside in next year’s budget to mothball Roberts Stadium for at least three months and pay for its demolition. He added the money for possible demolition could also be directed toward another use of the facility.

As most of you who read this blog frequently know, I have identified an investor who already has two teams, connections to bring in mid-sized concerts, and connections to bring in youth tournaments. All we have to do is raise the floor which is cheaper than demolition ( I talk about this in the post below). I STRONGLY urge Mayor Weinzapfel to consider this plan I have put together. Like he said, we have the money to do something for Roberts Stadium, why don't we keep our icon around and grow our city instead of leveling it? Mayor Weinzapfel has the opportunity to do something special with Roberts Stadium which will compliment the new arena that he boldly built. I sure hope he makes the right decision again!

Overall, I just don't understand why our Parks Department is running scared from Roberts Stadium. They absolutely, positively refuse to listen to any ideas from the community, study reuse options, or form a committee to find a solution. I find this to be extremely disappointing as I have compiled both an investor with multiple teams and connections to other events and a rough estimate for what it would take to raise the floor.

Instead of rushing the closure of Roberts Stadium, why don't we first make a decision about what we are going to do with the arena? Let's work to SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!

Let's Discuss Roberts Stadium's Water Pumps

(Note: not actual Roberts Stadium water pump; photo credit: www.prospect-sha.com)

This past week, I received an email from Jonathan who would like for me to talk about Roberts Stadium's water pumps. Here is his question...

You've stated that raising the floor would fix the water pump issue, but I've heard that the real issue is water flowing under the floor/underground in the soil. Without the pumps, erosion would cause the floor to cave in even if the floor is raised. Could you research this and address out on your blog?

First of all, I would like to thank Jonathan for his question. I really do appreciate all of the emails I have received since starting this blog. This tells me that you the viewers of this blog really do care about Roberts Stadium and want to make sure we come up with a viable plan to keep it around. Feel free to email me anytime: JordanBaer1@gmail.com

Jonathan raises a good question and concern about Roberts Stadium. There's no doubt that the water pumps have been the main source of controversy for Roberts Stadium since they were put in.

For those who don't know, Roberts Stadium's floor sits below the water table. Because of this, water pumps have been installed to pump the water out 24/7. If these pumps are ever turned off, Roberts Stadium's floor would be completely under water.

This wasn't always the case. When Roberts Stadium was built in 1956, it was left above ground. But in the 1990's, city hall decided to renovate Roberts Stadium instead of paying about $78 million to build a downtown arena. This has clearly been a mistake which is why we need to support the arena and support keeping Roberts Stadium intact.

Like I said in earlier posts, we could have prevented this problem. Before city hall gave the green light to renovate Roberts Stadium, they were warned that digging into the ground underneath Roberts Stadium would be unwise...

http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=931099

As you can see, our city hall doesn't always make the right decision. This is why it is vital to understand that we desperately need a committee of interested citizens, architects, engineers, business experts, and city officials to investigate Roberts Stadium to the fullest.

By researching and answering Jonathan's question, I hope to begin this process. We need to know what we're dealing with if we are going to make this project successful.

To find the answer to Jonathan's question, I reached out to Lon Walters, who is running for the City Council 2nd Ward. From the moment I emailed Mr. Walters, he has done anything and everything he could to make sure I got my answer. I cannot stress how important it is for those of you living in the 2nd Ward to elect Mr. Walters. Lon made sure he stayed in contact with me every time he got a lead. How many city officials can you name that would do that? Heck, we're lucky just to get one email back from some of these officials. Lon Walters is a hard working candidate and we MUST support him (here is his website: http://lonforcouncil.com/).

Luckily, Mr. Walters knows many engineers. He decided to reach out to a group that is familiar with Roberts Stadium's floor. However, they have left the following message that I will honor...

"...a study commissioned of an Architectural / Engineering Team should be considered."

In other words, we need city hall to commission a report on the idea of raising the floor back up. If city hall has already done this, then great let's see the report and go from there. If city hall hasn't, they need to form this commission immediately before any decision on demolition can be considered. It isn't fair to judge Roberts Stadium's future without first having all the details.

"We would prefer remaining nameless in the background (advising the candidate )awaiting a future Request for Qualifications for Professional Services."

For this reason, I will not be giving out the names of any individuals, any corporations, or any specific job details these organizations have performed for Roberts Stadium and other buildings. You will just have to take my word that these people know Roberts Stadium, and they know what they are talking about. If city hall does the commission, everyone will know for sure what needs to be done. This is just to give you an idea of what to expect.

I have the utmost respect for Mr. Walters, the organizations that participated in this research, and the individuals who helped us out from these organizations. I will honor and respect their requests.

Anyways, the following is a basic, generic summary of what we need to do based on the emails I have received via Lon Walters from engineering professionals...

The engineers said that the current pump system is NOT causing the floor to sink nor would it cause the floor to sink if they were eliminated and the floor raised. They did say some type of pump system maybe needed after the floor is raised due to changes possible in the aquifer level like the high rain fall we had earlier this year but nothing major like we currently have. An aquifer is a wet underground layer of water-bearing permeable rock or unconsolidated materials (gravel, sand, or silt), not an underground river.

There you have it, to raise the floor, we simply need to raise the floor by removing the current floor, filling it in with gravel, sand, or silt, and then pouring concrete for a new floor at our desired level. Why do we need to raise the floor?

For the record, I initially was hesitant to the idea of raising the floor. I love Roberts Stadium in its current state and I would hate to see it shrink. However, if we do this right, it is the correct decision for several reasons...

1. Raising the floor will allow for us to turn off the expensive pumps, which would completely end the pumps controversy and save dramatically on maintenance costs.

2. Raising the floor will allow us to scale back Roberts Stadium for mid-sized events that do not want to perform in a half filled Roberts Stadium.

3. Raising the floor will allow us to remove several thousand seats (ideally 5,000-6,000 seats). We can either 1. sell these seats to finance the renovation or 2. Use these seats in the construction of 8 new ball fields at Kleymeyer Park and use a small piece of the Innkeepers Tax to finance the renovation.

4. Raising the floor is mandatory to have a regulation size field for indoor football and soccer.

5. Raising the floor will prove once and for all that Roberts Stadium will not compete with the new arena.

6. Raising the floor will bring the sky boxes closer to the action.

7. Raising the floor will bring the floor back to its original level where Ralph Legeman and Hank Roberts intended for it to be.

8. Raising the floor is cheaper than demolition. Initial estimates are roughly $400,000-$500,000 (this isn't written in stone so don't quote me on that estimate until we have a commission that has evaluated all of Roberts Stadium's structure).

9. Raising the floor will allow us to bring the handicap seats closer to the action which will comply with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act).

10. Raising the floor will increase the amount of seats in the front row, thus creating more high valued seats.

The engineers also assured us that raising the floor will not affect Roberts Stadium's structure which is still on firm ground. The funny thing about it, is that if we were doing this renovation today, we could...

- Take the concrete rubble from the Executive Inn to Roberts Stadium to use as fill to raise the floor.

- Take the removed seats from Roberts Stadium to Kleymeyer Park and install them in 8 ball fields that represent vintage MLB ballparks.

- Take the dirt removed from Kleymeyer Park and use it as fill to level off the land underneath the former Executive Inn.

Amazingly, we had the opportunity to solve many problems by solving one problem! Still, this makes sense for both the Roberts Stadium and Kleymeyer Park/ ball fields projects.

For those of you who have been told that we cannot raise the floor, we should not raise the floor, or had not even considered the idea of raising the floor, I hope this answer to Jonathan's question helps you out with your concerns about Roberts Stadium's water pumps as well. It is extremely important to realize how big of an opportunity we have for our city.

We can either do the right thing and simply raise Roberts Stadium's floor up, or we can do the wrong thing and demolish our historic icon which will leave us with nothing but a higher bill.

You've heard the phrase, "Raise the Roof." Now, we need to RAISE THE FLOOR!

Where Is Roberts Stadium's Due Process?

With less than 5 months to go before the opening of the new arena, city hall has gone completely quiet on the future of Roberts Stadium. This begs the question: Why?

Why has city hall gone quiet on Roberts Stadium? Why are they not involving the public in the future of Roberts Stadium? What are their plans going forward to handle the Roberts Stadium situation? Do they even have a plan for Roberts Stadium? Do they care about the fate of our historic icon?

Over the course of the past few years, we have seen fierce opposition from local residents to the policies coming out our downtown Civic Center with the most notable project being the Wesselman Park ball fields. This right here is why city hall has no one to blame but themselves for their policies being highly unpopular with the locals.

A few weeks ago, I published a post on my Evansville Moving Forward blog talking about the need to replicate an Oklahoma City project called MAPS...

http://evansvillemovingforward.blogspot.com/2011/05/large-capital-improvement-projects-can.html

The reason why I am MAPS fan numero uno is because MAPS puts the power of large capital improvement projects in the hands of the citizens, not a handful of politicians who then give the power to people we don't even elect such as the Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau.

While it may seem harsh, the truth is, our elected officials don't always know what is best for our town. This is why we have public hearings and workshops to gather ideas and input from anyone and everyone that has something to say about the project and we can then decide what the appropriate action should be. In a court of law, this is called due process.

I am very proud to live in a country where due process rules the day. Because of this, we are entitled to proper legal rights, whether it be hearings or even a full blown trial. Roberts Stadium deserves the same.



Since the new arena received the green light and the ball fields project has been considered, zero current political leaders in office have come forward to listen to the people about why they want to keep their historical icon. No hearings, no town hall meeting, and no committee have been solely dedicated to reusing Roberts Stadium.

I find this to be quite shocking given the fact that I as well as many of Rick Davis's campaign workers have gone door-to-door in the Roberts Stadium neighborhood and cannot find one single person who wants Roberts Stadium to be demolished. This isn't my stadium, it isn't your stadium, it is OUR stadium.

Roberts Stadium must be judged by the people it has taken care of these past 55 years: The people of Evansville. A committee of engineers, business analysts, political leaders, and citizens who care about Roberts Stadium must be assembled to judge its future. That is when we will begin to make progress on saving Roberts Stadium.



The ball fields project failed because its organizers failed to listen to the people. They refused to consider alternative locations and they refused to redesign the fields to make them competitive with other cities. Since the ball fields project has been discussed, I proposed building the 8 fields that replicate vintage Major League Baseball fields at Kleymeyer Park. There already is a private company that does this taxpayer free. I will match this location and design up against any location and design that the ECVB and city government has produced any time, any place, any where.

I also have a local investor who is willing to work with the city to raise the floor up and place indoor football, indoor soccer, trade shows, youth sports tournaments, mid size concerts, and minor league basketball at the facility. He has already acquired 2 of these teams and isn't interested in the new arena as it is too expensive for his type of business. Regardless of what city hall says, Roberts Stadium will not compete with the new arena.

Back in 2001, Mayor Lloyd brought us together as a city to put together a master plan for our downtown. When everyone came together, we did wonderful things. We drew up a plan for downtown that included a ballpark, a canal, a marina, a better Main Street, and yes, an arena. Now, city hall has all but scrapped our downtown master plan while deciding themselves to waste $25 million on a simple widening of Green River Road.

We cannot allow Roberts Stadium to be scrapped by only a handful of bureaucrats. To demolish Roberts Stadium without making a good faith effort to save it is a disgrace to Hank Roberts who sacrificed his political career so that Roberts Stadium could be built. If the current city hall wants to ignore the will of the people, then perhaps we shall place an asterisk by these tarnished ten years we just went through.

Sooner or later, the gavel is going to drop on what to do with Roberts Stadium. Let's hope that before it does, Roberts Stadium has gotten a fair committee comprised of those it has served over the past 55 years. Give Roberts Stadium its due process!

Now You Will Know The Rest Of The Story

These past few years, all we've ever heard from various local residents and city leaders are the following...

- "We shouldn't revitalize downtown"

- "We shouldn't save Roberts Stadium"

- "The ballpark was a terrible idea and the new arena is now"

- "The new arena and Roberts Stadium will compete, thus the jobs at Roberts Stadium are simply moving downtown"

Amazingly enough, ALL four of those beliefs are dead wrong. Let's take a stroll down memory lane to the years 2001 and 2003.

2001

Then Mayor Russell Lloyd Jr. announced what I believe to be the best master plan ever for downtown Evansville. On the master plan, which I have a copy of if anyone wants to see it, was a ballpark, a marina, an arena, a new civic center, two new parks, a rejuvenated Main Street, and a redug Wabash & Erie Canal. This plan, in my opinion was just one light rail and high speed rail plan away from being the greatest thing since sliced bread. There's no doubt it would have put downtown back on the map.

Once the plan was unveiled, the city decided that they would pursue the ballpark plan first and then work their way around to the other projects. The wheels were then set in motion for the city to begin putting together the ballpark project.

2003

After a few years of work, Mayor Lloyd was ready to announce the location for the ballpark. Although it was already placed on the master plan, there was still much discussion about where it would go. While I preferred the Mulzer Stone site for a new ballpark, the lot bounded by Fulton, Riverside, 2nd Street, and 3rd Avenue was chosen.

But who would be the team that would play in this new ballpark?

Meet the Waves



Wilmington Waves (2001)

The South Georgia Waves franchise began play in Wilmington, North Carolina in 2001 as the Wilmington Waves. They were a Low-A class team that played in the South Atlantic League, and were a farm team of the Los Angeles Dodgers for the franchise’s only year in Wilmington. They played all of their home games at Brooks Field, on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. However, because Brooks Field was not easy to spot on campus, attendance for the Waves' home games was substantially low. Because of this handicap, the Waves were given a limited amount of time to find a new stadium or build a new one. But the deadline was not met and, prior to the 2002 season, the Wilmington Waves were sold and moved to Albany, Georgia, where the franchise became the South Georgia Waves.

South Georgia Waves (2002)

Once in Albany, Georgia, things didn't get any better for the Waves in the attendance column. Although the Waves posted a 75-63 record on the field, the Waves attendance was only around 1,000 people a game. David Heller and Mandalay Entertainment, an organization that owns many minor league baseball teams, had recently purchased the team and didn't want to stay in Albany with attendance being so low.

Evansville's Big Break

Right off the bat (no pun intended), Evansville caught a big break. They had found a team willing to relocate the same year they were going to build a new 6,000 seat ballpark. They also happened to find not one but two star baseball players who were willing to invest in the team as owners.

In 2003, Don Mattingly and Cal Ripken Jr. announced that they would be purchasing a piece of the Waves from David Heller and would be relocating to Evansville, IN for the 2004 season...

http://www.accessnorthga.com/detail.php?n=185671&c=3

http://www.walb.com/story/1078068/waves-ready-to-move-again?clienttype=printable

At this point, EVERYTHING was going right for Evansville. We were going to get a brand new ballpark with a professional baseball team that had two baseball stars as owners. Surely, no one would screw this up, right? Well, think again...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2003/feb/04/fanello-mosby-oppose-stadium/

Two Vanderburgh County Commissioners registered their objection Monday to a Downtown baseball stadium, calling it an unwise use of public money.

"This selection has proceeded despite public opposition to the project and without any input," Fanello said.

"Take one-fifth of the money that's talked about being spent Downtown and use it to renovate Bosse Field," (Mosby) said.

Stadium backers say the project would create jobs. Mosby said Evansville has a lengthy list of needed storm sewer projects that could put people to work.

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0lXCwrdfQcUJ:www.vanderburgh.org/auditor/comm_mins/February/Feb0303cc.htm+david+mosby+bosse+field+sewers&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com

President Mosby: I guess, my comment would be, and I have hashed out, I guess, within myself a lot about the baseball diamond, or the baseball stadium downtown. I can actually say, as an elected official, I, for one, did not have any dialogue, I should say with the Mayor, or the city over this. My first thought is in the state of the way things are today, and the financial condition of the county, the city, the school corporation, we’ve heard about their financial woes recently. I would not be in favor of a downtown baseball stadium. I think we have probably one of the nicest baseball parks around in Bosse Field. I mean, Bosse Field is a tremendous asset to this community. There has been movies shot at Bosse Field. There has been ball played at Bosse Field. High schools have used Bosse Field. Bosse Field has been a grand facility. I think we could probably take one fifth of the money that they are talking about spending downtown, and probably renovate Bosse Field, and all the mechanicals, and probably add a few seats to it. I sat on the City Council, I guess, when this city pondered building a new arena downtown, and at one time we were given a price of about $78 million plus to put an arena downtown. At that time this city had to make what was probably a financial decision in the best interest of the whole community. We did not elect to build a downtown arena. In turn we spent $16.1 million, about, per se one fifth or sixth of the cost again, and we have Roberts Stadium today. And Roberts Stadium has served the needs of this community very well over the past few years. I know there’s groups out there that say we need to build a ball diamond. It’s jobs for this city. It’s jobs for the community. I can assure you, once again, when I sat back on the City Council, there’s a storm sewer master plan sitting down there at the Board of Works with 100 plus projects on it, at a cost of about $178 million. If this city has $25 or $30 million to put into a ball diamond, then they need to pull that master plan off the shelves down there, and start some work.

Like always, the worst of the worst in Evansville always rise to the top, and this time it just happened to be the man who is partially responsible for a Roberts Stadium below the water table: David Mosby.

Mr. Mosby, along with Catherine Fanello, came out against the ballpark proposal because he said it was too costly, the jobs should be created elsewhere, and he believed that the city should renovate Bosse Field instead.

It was also Mr. Mosby who was one of the council members to reject the warnings that lowering Roberts Stadium's floor would be a bad idea...

http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=931099

So after everything was said and done, Evansville lost. Mayor Lloyd called off the ballpark proposal and that was the end of the South Georgia Waves coming to Evansville.

The announcement was so quick that it even caught Waves owner David Heller off guard. Suddenly his team had no home for the 2004 season.

Columbus Catfish (2003-2009)

With just a few days before the 2003 South Atlantic League (SALLY) was set to begin, Heller made the decision to go ahead and relocate to Columbus, Georgia. The team remained the South Georgia Waves for 2003 but changed to Columbus Catfish in 2004.

This quick relocation decision proved to be another bad choice. Despite the Catfish winning the title in 2007, attendance figures were still extremely low. This was the last we heard of the Waves franchise in Evansville. We were led to believe that we made the right decision to pass on the building the new ballpark because it would have been a mistake just like the relocation to Columbus. We would have lost money on the ballpark, would not have generated any economic impact for downtown, and attendance would have been low for sure. What Evansville doesn't know is the rest of the story...

Bowling Green Hot Rods (2009- Present)

After many futile attempts to make it work in Columbus, David Heller decided to sell the team to Art Solomon who would be moving the franchise to Bowling Green...

http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2008/06/20/352160/its-official-catfish-leaving-columbus.html

Bowling Green, whose city population is only 58,067 (Metro: 120,595) stepped up to the plate even though their population is only half of Evansville's. Instead of renovating Nick Denes Field, where WKU plays, Bowling Green decided to build a brand new ballpark.

On June 17, 2008, the city of Bowling Green issued $25 million worth of bonds to construct Bowling Green Ballpark...

http://www.baseballparks.com/bowlinggreen-2.asp

Bowling Green's brand new 4,500 seat ballpark has been a hit since Opening Day when it attracted 6,886 fans. Each year, attendance at Bowling Green Ballpark has increased. The Hot Rods have had a positive impact both on the community and on the city's economy...

http://www.wbko.com/home/headlines/43208177.html
http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/100660889.html

The Hot Rods are responsible for an estimated 1,500-1,600 extra hotel nights in the city each season!

How did Bowling Green build what Evansville wouldn't? Simply put, they committed to spending money in their downtown. Just like Evansville was going to do, Bowling Green set up a TIF district where funds from downtown would stay downtown instead of going into state coffers. Bowling Green's TIF is estimated to be at $200 million.

With the construction of Bowling Green Ballpark, the city decided to make it a part of a massive urban renewal development to the tune of $251 million (already $150 million has been spent). You can take a look at all the redevelopment going on in downtown Bowling Green right here...

http://southcentralky.com/Living-Here-Downtown-Redevelopment.aspx
http://www.southcentralky.com/media/docs/Downtown_Map.pdf

While downtown Bowling Green continues to thrive with a new ballpark, Evansville's riverfront continues to suffer the consequences. If you drive by what was suppose to be the location of the new ballpark, you will only see an empty parking lot and a renovated adult bookstore. Outside of Casino Aztar, there is little hope for the land once pegged to be a ballpark.

And don't think for a second that Evansville saved $25 million by cancelling this project. No, it just went into terrible road projects such as this one...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/may/23/no-headline---24a0xgreenriver/

"Now that the most expensive locally funded road project ever in Vanderburgh County is largely complete, county officials are considering projects to maximize the impact of a revamped North Green River Road.

The $25 million project took more than two years to build and widened the road from two to four — and in some places five — lanes north of Pigeon Creek."

Also I may add, Nick Denes Field did undergo a small $1 million renovation for the WKU Hilltoppers while Bosse Field has not received a renovation (which is a good thing!).

So most of you are probably wondering by now: Why bring this up and what does it have to do with Roberts Stadium? Well, here are several things we need to realize from this situation.

1. Building a new arena downtown is a good thing not a bad thing. It will be key in revitalizing our downtown. If we would have renovated Roberts Stadium, no downtown renewal would be taking place. This is definitely a step in the right direction. Look at what Bowling Green is doing!

2. The new arena and Roberts Stadium are not competing. Just like Nick Denes Field and the new Bowling Green Ballpark coexist, so too can Roberts Stadium and the new arena. Bowling Green Ballpark is used for professional baseball and all other premier events while Nick Denes Field serves WKU. Here, we will use the new arena for professional hockey, Aces basketball, premier concerts, and anything else that is a regional attraction. This will allow us to use Roberts Stadium for mid-sized events such as indoor soccer, indoor football, minor league basketball, small trade shows, small concerts, as well as youth tournaments. Roberts Stadium is not standing in the way of progress, it is complimenting progress with the new arena!

3. Don't settle for a renovation. Many Roberts Stadium supporters believed that Roberts Stadium should have been renovated into a premier arena. But if you look at what the last renovation did to Roberts Stadium's structure you will see that we would basically be demolishing Roberts Stadium and building a new arena in its place if we did it again. We shall not renovate Roberts Stadium and we shall not even think about laying a finger on historic Bosse Field. Mr. Mosby is wrong, renovating historic sports venues is not the way to go!

4. We need to spend money downtown not the county. Look at what a new ballpark could have done for our downtown. Don't you think that would have been a much better investment than widening Green River Road? That decision will now see many more residents move into the area which will result in much more money needing to be allocated for infrastructure.

Furthermore, Mr. Mosby believed that cancelling the ballpark would be a good idea because it would allow us to fix our sewer problem. Wrong again. Look around town, we still have a major sewer problem even without the ballpark (Now the EPA has gotten involved!). Instead, we put the $25 million into expanding Green River Road which will force us to have to expand our sewer system over time. The ballpark and the sewer problem were not related just like Roberts Stadium needing its floor raised and the Parks Department needing additional funds are not related. You can and should do both!

As a whole, look at what we're investing in (roads in the county) and look at what Bowling Green is investing in ($251 million in their downtown), which one do you think will be most beneficial?

5. Roberts Stadium's jobs ARE NOT simple moving to the downtown new arena. Look at what happened when we cancelled our downtown ballpark. Did all of that economic development and new job creation go to Bosse Field? The answer is no, it never happened at all. If we would have done nothing, premier concerts, the Icemen, and many other events would have simply skipped Evansville instead of coming to Roberts Stadium, thus we would be losing the jobs and economic impact that is now going to take place downtown.

Furthermore, we must keep Roberts Stadium around to ADD to the new jobs and economic impact of the new arena. If we bring in indoor football, minor league basketball, indoor soccer, small concerts, small trade shows, and youth sports, we will be ADDING to the jobs market and creating an additional economic impact for the city.

I also believe we should do the same thing with Bosse Field if we ever decide to build a new ballpark! We must build the softball fields at Kleymeyer Park so that youth softball and baseball championship games can be played at historic Bosse Field. Couple that with the Otters playing on the off days of the minor league baseball team (Would form a rivalry too) and we would still have a thriving Bosse Field district!

Overall, I believe that many lessons can be learned from the downtown ballpark mistake. We have to realize that building a new arena is a good thing as it has nothing to do with Roberts Stadium. We must build new facilities while improving our old ones at the same time.

Many locals want you to believe that building new venues such as a new arena or a new ballpark are a bad thing for Evansville, and we must choose between our old facilities and our new facilities.

They NEVER tell you what happened to the South Georgia Waves. They NEVER tell you that that franchise ended up relocating to a city in the Tri-State that is half the size of Evansville. They NEVER tell you that that franchise built a brand new ballpark in downtown Bowling Green without having to demolish or compete with one single ballpark. They also NEVER tell you that Bowling Green Ballpark is an economic catalyst for downtown Bowling Green and WKU's Nick Denes Field still underwent a renovation even though the city decided not to place a professional baseball team there.

But now you know............ THE REST OF THE STORY!