(Beastie Boys album via virginmedia.com)Despite the fact that city hall's support for demolition is becoming more and more unpopular each day, they have decided to try one last trick to undercut Roberts Stadium and her supporters.
Our local watchdog the City-County Observer is reporting that city hall has set yet another closing date for Roberts Stadium...
http://city-countyobserver.com/2011/07/20/roberts-stadium-to-be-shuttered-on-september-17th/
Sources within SMG have advised the City County Observer that they have
been given notice to vacate the building by September 17, 2011. The 60 day
notice was served upon SMG officials as is consistent with their operating
agreement.
A few weeks ago, the Parks Department decided to take it upon themselves to set a closing date of August 3rd...
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/jun/17/evansville-proposes-closing-date-roberts-stadium/
As soon as it was revealed that the Parks Department and city hall had decided to start closing down Roberts Stadium before the new arena is even scheduled to open, a red flag has gone up in the minds of most local residents.
What sense does it make to close down Roberts Stadium before the new arena opens? What sense does it make to close down Roberts Stadium PERIOD if you don't have a plan for it?
Only city hall knows the answer to these questions, but now we may have an idea of why they are doing it....
(From the CCO link above)
Earlier this week we also learned that key pieces of the infrastructure of Roberts Stadium were being removed just after the upcoming Kenney Chesney concert making Roberts incapable of hosting any events.
This new piece of information makes you wonder if sabotage is the whole reason behind this early closing. What is sabotage?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabotage
Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening another entity through
subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction.
Since both arenas are owned by our city, we could be witnessing self-sabotage of Roberts Stadium so that it cannot compete with the new arena. If true, this action would seem to be the last hope of demolition supporters inside city hall to take one last shot at knocking down Roberts Stadium.
Those who support demolition know they are losing this battle. They know Roberts Stadium is in a much better condition than they want you to believe, they know it makes much more sense financially to simply raise Roberts Stadium's floor and bring in 2-3 minor league teams, trade shows, mid-size concerts, and youth sports tournaments, and they know the residents of Evansville want this local icon preserved so that this building will tell Evansville's story to future generations.
City hall's latest move is a move straight out of a Beastie Boys music video...
Now, instead of demolishing Roberts Stadium from the outside, those in city hall who support demolition have decided to gut Roberts Stadium from within. Once they have taken all that they can get, they will then tell you that there is nothing left to save. Once more, they will fail.
I am being told that items such as curtains and maintenance equipment will be removed from Roberts Stadium and placed inside the new arena. While this will certainly be a hindrance to future Roberts Stadium events, it WILL NOT be enough to prevent us from reusing this great arena as a mid-sized arena.
Demolition supporters have severely underestimated the knowledge, the will to speak up, and the desire to fight for preservation that almost all of our local residents possess. They are firmly betting against the people of Evansville and it will back fire on them miserably.
I found one part of this article to be highly ironic given the recent developments...
http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=286997
One could say the termination of the city's contract with SMG is far from surprising. The city hired VenuWorks earlier this year to run the new downtown arena. That decision came after the city said SMG was doing a poor job running the stadium. It complained of everything from broken toilets and chipped walls, to damaged equipment and littered storage areas.Yet, they are pulling all kinds of goodies out of Roberts Stadium to take to the new arena. If SMG managed Roberts Stadium that bad, wouldn't all the equipment be beyond repair? If you were managing both arenas and you felt like SMG let Roberts Stadium fall apart, would you put any of their equipment in your brand new $127 million arena? Of course not. I am proud of the decades of service SMG has given us, and I am embarrassed that my city is treating them this way.
Most importantly, a broken toilet(s), a chipped wall(s), a littered storage area(s), and damaged equipment is nothing that cannot be repaired (especially if the damaged equipment ends up moving downtown). If the roof was falling in on Roberts Stadium, if the walls were knocked in, or if the ground was torn up, we might have trouble renovating Roberts Stadium, but they aren't.
I support the new arena 110%, but I truly expect a broken toilet, a chipped wall, or a littered storage area to happen right out of the gate. It happens. These are facilities that handle thousands upon thousands of guests at one time. Minor things like that are going to happen constantly. You repair them and you go on. Like Mr. Rick Davis said on the show Newsmakers...
" If you have a leaky basement, you don't tear down the house."
Also, it appears that those who insist on sabotaging Roberts Stadium and closing it down early don't even have the guts to go public with their plan.
Closing down Roberts Stadium NEVER APPEARED on the Parks Department's agenda...
http://city-countyobserver.com/2011/07/20/parks-board-meeting-agenda-july-20-2011/
This begs the question: What government entity inside city hall is really behind the decision to close Roberts Stadium down early?
We may or may not ever know the answer to that question, but if there is one organization that can find the answer , it is the City-County Observer. I will keep you posted on anything they find out about the early closing of Roberts Stadium.
In the meantime, I want you the supporters of Roberts Stadium to remain patient, active, and supportive of Roberts Stadium. It's going to be many, many months before we get our chance to put together a plan for Roberts Stadium so I hope you will be willing to be patient with this process as we will have several more storms to weather.
I appreciate all of the support you the viewers have given this blog. I never would have dreamed nearly 12,000 people would come to this site, but you showed up and you showed up in mass quantities. I thank you and ask for your continued support as we continue the battle to Save Roberts Stadium!
Email Mayor Weinzapfel, the Courier & Press, both councils, the Vanderburgh County Commissioners, the Parks Department, and anyone else you believe can make a difference inside city hall. Let them know, you want city hall to stop the self-sabotage!
(dvdtrainingvideo.com)
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