"Roberts, like the Aces themselves, can never really be replaced in the hearts and minds of fans in Evansville. It was a special place. A place where you saw everyone you wanted to see and where you, in turn, were seen."
--- Kyle Keiderling, author of "Trophies and Tears"
Please send all questions and comments to JordanBaer1@gmail.com
Please send all questions and comments to JordanBaer1@gmail.com
Kyle Keiderling, author of the book Trophies & Tears (which can be purchased here: TrophiesandTearsbook.com) has graciously sent me an epilogue that he wrote for Roberts Stadium that you will not find in his book or anywhere else. Not only should this epilogue give you a hint at why his book is one of the best written books on Evansville Ace's basketball and Roberts Stadium, it also should stand as a testament to the impact Roberts Stadium has had on not just our local community but the nation as well.
So without further adieu, I present to you "Remembering Roberts"
Remembering Roberts
Kyle Keiderling
It stands empty now.
Cold.
Cavernous.
Eerily silent.
The home of the
Aces of Evansville has seen its last college basketball game. After fifty-five
seasons, five national championships, and more memories than can be imagined,
it has been declared obsolete and replaced by a new, shining, $127 million
futuristic arena downtown.
Replaced—but not
forgotten.
“It was the
embodiment of the city,” said Rich Davis.
And so it was.
Roberts Stadium
was home to the Aces for more than half a century. If those wearing the colors
of the Purple Aces were idolized and deified by the people of Evansville, then
Roberts was the temple in which they offered their devotions.
Roberts, like the
Aces themselves, can never really be replaced in the hearts and minds of fans
in Evansville. It was a special place. A place where you saw everyone you
wanted to see and where you, in turn, were seen.
Attired in red,
the crowds that gathered within its walls saw history made and made history
themselves by congregating in greater numbers than spectators anywhere else in
the vast land of Division II basketball. From the opening night in 1956 until
February 26, 2011, it was the place to be in Evansville, a social mecca that
provided thrills and excitement to break the numbing monotony of long, cold
winter nights.
The relationship
of the Aces and Evansville was a long-term affair, and, like many long-term
relationships, the flames of passion died a little with each passing year. But
in the embers of the fire glow the memories of years gone by.
The fire may be
banked and the ardor that once roared has cooled, but the fleeting spark still
rises from the ashes. From time to time the accomplishments of the Aces
rekindle the flame, and it roars to life again, igniting the old passion anew.
With a little
imagination you can still see the names and faces of those who stoked the
flames into bonfires through the years.
Oh, if only these
walls could tell of all they’ve seen.
The shot by Buster
Briley, the pioneering presence of Jim Smallins, Ed Smallwood gliding across
the court with the grace of a man known as the Big Smoke. The Mackey Marvel—Gus
Doerner, the Old Man—Hugh Ahlering, the Cox brothers, Wayne Boultinghouse, and
high-scoring Larry Humes. Jerry Sloan, Sam Watkins, and Herb Williams and the
team that was perfect.
The last
championship squad with Don Buse, Mike Platt, and Rick Smith. The young team of
1977–78 with so much promise and such a shocking end. Scott Haffner, Marty
Simmons, coaches Dick Walters and Jim Crews reviving the program.
And, of course,
Mac.
Stoic,
professorial, brilliant Mac, whose only display of emotion was the stomping of
a red-clad foot on the sideline on his way to the Hall Of Fame.
And the colors.
Oh, those many
colors.
In all of college
basketball no team has ever been more colorful than the Purple Aces of
Evansville. Players in multihued long robes, covering bright orange
t-shirt-style jerseys, charging onto the court from a tunnel into a sea of red.
Where once the
roar of the crowd reverberated from the rafters and washed in waves over the
court, only silence reigns. But, if you listen closely enough, you can still
hear the echoes of the storied past.
Echoes are all
that remain of Roberts now, but surely, if you try, you can still hear the
familiar rhythmic chant of more than 13,000 fervent fans as they implore:
One of the most rewarding things about the Save/Remember Roberts Stadium movement has been the vast amount of people from different backgrounds and different neighborhoods coming forward to tell their stories about what Roberts Stadium has meant to them over the years.
Now, Roberts Stadium supporters can show their support for Roberts Stadium and a local small business by purchasing a Roberts Stadium Christmas Ornament from Rose Marie's Gifts & Collectibles...
(click on images to enlarge)
My camera is not the best so here's what the renderings look like...
Here's the 411 on how you can get this ornament
What does the design look like? On the left side of the ornament is an engraved photo of old Roberts Stadium. On the right side of the ornament is an engraved photo of new Roberts Stadium.
How much is it? $24.75 + tax
Where do I call to order this ornament? The # for Rose Marie's is on their website: http://www.rosemaries.net/
What is the shipping charge for those out of the Evansville area? It depends on where the ornament is being shipped, Rose Marie's will give you a quote when you call them
As someone who is a big fan of collecting sports facility ornaments, replicas, bricks, etc, etc, I'm excited to be adding Roberts Stadium to my collection...
I also hope that you will enjoy the description that comes with each ornament. I typed it up myself!
Lastly, I want to stress that I am not making any money off of these ornaments. Rather, I am asking you to purchase a Roberts Stadium ornament because I want to make sure the Roberts Stadium legacy doesn't fade. We're going to still need the heart and soul of Roberts Stadium as we move forward into future elections and as we plan future smaller arenas in the Tri-State. I also want you to support Rose Marie's, a local small business who has been making ornaments that commemorate Evansville landmarks for 25 years now. I am VERY honored that they have chosen Roberts Stadium for their 25th anniversary ornament, and I am humbled that they reached out to me to help design this ornament.
So If you want to help in the efforts to make sure Roberts Stadium is remembered, please do so by purchasing a Roberts Stadium Christmas Ornament from Rose Marie's here in Evansville. Remember Roberts Stadium!
35 years ago today (Dec 13, 1977), the Evansville Aces men's basketball team suffered a devastating and tragic plane crash killing all on board the plane.
The effects of this tragedy have lingered through the Evansville community for years. It is my belief that whatever we put at the site that will forever be known as Roberts Stadium, we must and should place a new inspiring monument with the existing plaques and pictures that were in the main level recognizing the 1977 Aces.
Sometime during the day, please take a few minutes out of your busy schedule to watch this great video made by Reitz High School and WNIN (both links go to the same place). It really does a great job putting into words and images how awful that day was...
As you can see from the video, Roberts Stadium played an important role in 1977. Roberts Stadium served as the main place of healing for those who had family and friends in the plane crash. For this reason, I am committed to fighting for this great venue. She was there for us, now it's time for us to be there for her!
Today, we remember the 1977 Evansville Aces men's basketball team.
Now that demolition has officially begun on Roberts Stadium, it's time to do once more what I was hoping I wouldn't ever have to do- sign off on the efforts to save Roberts Stadium. It seems like just yesterday when I began this blog, but in reality it has been over 2 years since the first post in early September of 2010.
Truthfully, I have very mixed feelings about these past two years. On the positive side, I'm VERY thankful for all of the people I have met because of this big brown building. As someone who seeks to build their career and life around the development of sports venues, I have always championed the idea that cities aren't just building arenas when they construct them. Rather, they are building neighborhoods, businesses, and most importantly, they are improving relations throughout their city between both their residents and residents of other cities. I am proud of what every single arena, ballpark, and stadium has accomplished both in the U.S as well as around the world.
Many people think you just look at the bottom line when you build an arena. Despite it being profitable, Roberts Stadium has proven that theory wrong. Roberts Stadium wasn't just an arena, it was a way of life, and to those of you who have gotten involved in all of the multiple battles to save Roberts Stadium I say thank you.
By far and away the comment that has meant the most to me happened when a supporter of this blog called me and told me that she had been called by Carol McClintock, wife of the man they say is mayor of Evansville. In her failed attempt to convert this member to the side of demolition, she admitted to this supporter that, " BOTH DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS WERE FIGHTING THE DEMOLITION OF ROBERTS STADIUM."
These past few years, many people have tried to make Roberts Stadium nothing but a political issue. They've pointed fingers and used this iconic arena like it was built just for them to use it as prop for their political career. Little did they know, Roberts Stadium wasn't Democrat Blue nor was it Republican Red, it was Roberts Stadium Brown and Texas Burnt Orange with a hint of yellow insulation and gray bricks beneath it.
With all of that being said, I must point out the negatives of these past few years because quite frankly I am appalled by the many disgusting things that have happened and I believe they should be called out.
I'll start off by saying this: I have always thought our community was one of the top cities when it came to giving. For many years we've outnumbered almost any city when it came to churches, veteran's organizations, and just plain ole great American groups like the West Side Nut Club. Don't get me wrong, we still have most, if not all, of the groups we've always had like that, but I am now of the mind that their generosity is being overshadowed by a fairly large number of residents and organizations who are out to help only themselves.
As a community leader, Roberts Stadium was also instrumental in showing the true colors of a lot of individuals and groups here in Evansville. When I started this blog, I never imagined in a million years just how many people would be hellbent on destroying this arena at all costs. Thankfully, the one successful thing to come out of this movement has been the showing of those who don't care about Evansville.
The reason why I say that is because I find it to be nothing short of disgusting the way some have treated Roberts Stadium. We saw the Building Authority director go out of his way to point at little micro dents, dings, and leaks around the arena as well as round up a company to remove the parking lot for free, but we never saw him try to show the real Roberts Stadium to any one in the community who was interested in trying to save it unless he was told to, nor did we see him disclose to the public that he had been approached by several people wanting to rent the parking lot which would have helped stabilize the arena.
We never saw UE lift one finger to help save Roberts Stadium. They had several donors and supporters like the great Jerry Sloan, Larry Humes, and Scott Hafner in their cupboard yet they NEVER gave one ounce of energy towards fighting for the building that was there for them when they were at their lowest point. And not only did they refuse to fight for Roberts Stadium, they also made sure they milked it for everything it was worth. They talked about how great of a facility it was when they were trying to sell tickets to their last game there. And then, when everything was said and done, they were first in line to have the mayor hand them free bricks from Roberts Stadium.
We also never heard from any of our so called "business leaders" or "political leaders" when it came time to stand behind Roberts Stadium. Groups like the ECVB, the Southwestern Indiana Chamber of Commerce, GAGE, and many other union, business, and government agencies are ALWAYS asking for the community to help them. Yet, none of these organizations gave a damn about one of Evansville's main buildings. Why was this? Because they simply didn't want to put out any effort to fight for anything that didn't help them personally.
I am truly disgusted in the actions of all of the above groups.
The last thing that I would like to say that I am very disappointed in was both the performance of the Evansville City Council and Mayor Lloyd Winnecke. The council flip flopped in every direction they could so that they could approve demolition funds without making it look they were wanting to demolish it. They used it to get elected, and then they used it as a way of telling the in crowd at the civic center that they were on their side so that they wouldn't be prevented from furthering their careers. Although they are appointed and not elected, the Evansville Parks Board embodies this same mentality.
And then there's Lloyd Winnecke. Words cannot express how completely disappointed I am at the way he handled this situation. For those of you who followed this blog frequently, you will recall that I asked you to support him when he was elected and rally behind him when he assembled the task force that I was a member of. I was also one of the few, if not only, task force member to publicly thank him for forming the task force at our first meeting. I generally thought he cared about Roberts Stadium and was interested in what I was trying to accomplish.
Yes, I feel like an idiot for believing that Winnecke cared but I'll tell you why I took the bait. I had known Winnecke through this Roberts Stadium project for over a year and change before he became mayor. Every time I saw him, whether it was at his office discussing Roberts Stadium, or helping film Newsmakers for which he was a guest a few times on he was always nice and made sure he gave me the impression that he cared.
When I met with him in November of last year for the final time before the task force was assembled, he was unable to rebute any of my solutions, saying only, " Well I'll look at it and if someone can convince me I'll think about it." He never could explain why both SMG and Venuworks believed that Roberts and the Ford Center would not compete, he never could explain how the three tenants, college and high school basketball games, the disaster relief area, and all the rest of those interested in Roberts Stadium could somehow someway be jammed into an expensive and already filled Ford Center.
So when he told me out in the back 40 parking lot after the IURC meeting over the proposed Vectren rate hike last December that he would be putting me on the committee, I was excited and I genuinely thought he was going to actually give a damn. But just months later, everything changed. A false page was added after the final task force meeting that claimed it was cheaper to build a new arena than to renovate the current Roberts Stadium.
And when I told the C&P that that was false after they called me, I received a phone call from city hall. I knew on that day that Roberts Stadium was going to be demolished. And at that moment, I was in complete shock that the city had tried to use me and my efforts to save Roberts Stadium in such a blatant way, but they did and I will never trust any city government branch again when I work on other projects.
So now, due to the actions of all the above groups, we are left with nothing but empty walls at 2600 Division Street.
And for those who will argue that this was a once in a lifetime battle, think again. The main problem with Roberts Stadium was that some other government organization wanted it and many organizations who could care less about urban planning using the whole area and not just the arena itself. Wesselman Woods and Nature Center just had to have the Roberts Stadium lot. And guess how much resistance the Parks Board put up to this notion? You guessed it, zero. Even though a mid-sized Roberts Stadium left plenty of room for a green space in the back lot the size of the one being constructed at the old airport, and even though the BMX supporters could have gotten their skate board only facility attached to Swonder while hosting BMX tournaments inside Roberts while those who wanted a natatorium could build on the Hartke Pool lot with a new pool, every single one of these groups just had to have Roberts Stadium. In Portland, Oregon, we saw how all of these groups won when they came together with their Memorial Coliseum...
But here in Evansville, you just won't see that type of planning with that many interested groups. No, everything everywhere will have to be a "winner take all" format. With Roberts Stadium only partially demolished, we are already seeing what battles still linger. Currently, the future of Mesker Amphitheatre, Old North High School Gymnasium (designed by Ralph Legeman as well), and the McCurdy Hotel all still have question marks in their future. None of these landmarks are still going off of the original plan to restore them.
Now that most of the shell of Roberts Stadium on the eastern side has been removed from the arena, a new question begs to be asked: Will you, I, and the city of Evansville be left behind those empty walls?
This week, Mr. Kyle Keiderling has begun accepting orders online for his new book " Trophies and Tears." Keiderling, a graduate of Rutgers, has done an excellent job captioning the history and nostalgia of Evansville Aces basketball while they called Roberts Stadium home from 1956 through 2011. He is accepting pre-orders through his website http://www.trophiesandtearsbook.com/.
The #1 reason why I want all supporters of Roberts Stadium to purchase and read this book is the fact that I don't want the legacy of Roberts Stadium and Aces basketball from that time period to fade away. The fact that Mr. Keiderling wrote this book is further proof of the enormous magnitude Roberts Stadium and the Aces have had on not just the Tri-State region but also the United States and the game of basketball as a whole. Evansville truly is losing its competitive advantage by demolishing Roberts Stadium.
I talked to Kyle yesterday via email and he told me that he will probably making several trips to Evansville for book signings so make sure you get yours early if you want to have a copy for him to sign. In case you forget, I will be placing a link on the right hand side of this blog that you will link to Kyle's Trophies and Tears website.
Roberts Stadium was there for us in 1977 when the Aces' plane crashed, Roberts Stadium was there for us when stars like Jerry Sloan defeated SIU with Walt Frazier which helped Jerry launch his legendary NBA career, and Roberts Stadium stood strong while critics like Jonathan Weinzapfel, Dave Rector, and Lloyd Winnecke tried to find any reason to demolish it (ultimately they had to just make one up). Now, it's time to be there for Roberts Stadium by keeping memories still alive.
Support Roberts Stadium by purchasing the book Trophies and Tears!
Last Wednesday night, Lloyd Winnecke and Leadership Evansville director Lynn Miller-Pease hosted another one of their "VOICE" sessions at the University of Southern Indiana. Since it's inception, this program has not been widely received by the residents of Evansville. Why is this program unpopular with residents?
For those who were unable to make it to one of the public session events at our Roberts Stadium Task Force, it is important to know that Miller-Pease was chosen to be the leader of the public sessions. Obviously, the first question that needed to be asked to the mayor was- What was the purpose of the task force leaders? Winnecke told us on day 1 we couldn't make a recommendation (and as we all know the mayor then lets page 13 be added to the report and now claims that we came to the conclusion that Roberts Stadium was beyond repair), he then put Lynn Miller-Pease in charge of gathering all of the ideas. Right off the bat, it was more than obvious that Winnecke was just using the task force members so that he could claim their voice would be heard when in reality it was all being controlled by his administration.
The alignment to these meetings was bad enough, but it got even worse. Miller-Pease then tells us that all 3 sessions are going to have the same questions and are going to be divided into 4 groups that will be completely separate from each other. This setup was completely flawed and prompted several issues from task force members that were rejected by either Miller-Pease or the task force director such as the following...
- At least two members wanted to keep a tally of the popularity of each idea. This would have shown which ideas were popular with the group and which ideas were popular with just one or two people. This was rejected with the excuse being, "let's just focus on the ideas." Luke Yeagar even went so far as to say that he wasn't a statistician and if he was charged with the task of taking tallies he probably wouldn't have agreed to join the task force. This is further proof that page 13 of the report was a complete lie because there were no "general conclusions" from the committee. In fact, they wouldn't even let us investigate which ideas were stronger than others.
- The three subcommittees that were formed were never given time to work together to try to fuse ideas together. One member requested this but was told that each subcommittee should just focus on their topic. Thankfully, I was able to get around this by having Mr. Jeff Justice compile an estimate to convert the back lot to a parking lot. I was also able to get in the report that BMX tournaments could work with a mid-sized Roberts Stadium by taking the open summer dates. Unfortunately, getting those ideas in the report was as far as the idea of developing one true idea consisting of everyone's ideas got.
- When residents at the public session that was held at Roberts Stadium became angry with the process, Larry Steenberg stood up and said he wouldn't be on the task force if he thought the decision was already decided (and of course we now know that he ran to the C&P to defend page 13 which is blatantly incorrect, blatantly misleading, and was added after our final task force meeting). This prompted one resident to say, "perhaps you shouldn't be on this task force." As soon as this comment was echoed, Miller-Pease jumped to her feet, took the podium, and said, "if you have any problems with this public meeting, blame me not him." So far, neither Miller-Pease nor Steenberg have proven or removed page 13.
By far and away, the worst event of the task force happened at our third and final public session. This session took place the week after our second public session was held at Roberts Stadium itself. To see what the reaction was from those who toured Roberts Stadium, task force member Greg Stilwell began going around the room to see who attended the previous meeting at Roberts Stadium, what those who attended the meeting thought, and if they viewed Roberts Stadium's condition in a positive or negative light.
As soon as she saw Stilwell going around to the four groups, Miller-Pease made a beeline to Greg as quickly as she could in an attempt to stop him from asking his questions. When I looked over and saw her heading for him at the third group, I honestly thought she was going to tackle him. She first tried to stop the questions by saying "let's just focus on the questions in our group." But then, Greg turned around and asked the simple question, "Who attended the Roberts Stadium meeting?"
Miller-Pease then ran to task force director Larry Steenberg who began shaking his head in disgust and moved as fast as he could to Stilwell. Stilwell was asked not to ask any questions until after the groups sessions. Thankfully, Stilwell was smart and began asking all of his questions in all of the groups once Steenberg and Miller-Pease left. His findings are the following...
- 28 people attended the Roberts Stadium session and then came back to the third session at the Centre
- Of those 28 people, 25 viewed Roberts Stadium in a favorable light
- The 3 who didn't view Roberts Stadium in a favorable light wanted the lot to be converted to a green space
- Of those 3, ONLY ONE of them said they would not be willing to accept a compromise of keeping Roberts Stadium with a green space in the back lot.
As you look at the results, you can see why those who didn't want the arena to be saved would have reason to fight Stilwell's survey and tally taking. Roberts Stadium supporters ALWAYS outnumbered those who didn't support Roberts Stadium. Why was this covered up?
Ironically enough, after the final group questions were asked, all of the members began heading back to the regular part of the room and mixing in with all of the other members of the other 3 groups. Once this happened, Miller-Pease came back to where Greg Stilwell was standing and said, "now you can ask your questions."
It's bad enough that Roberts Stadium was treated the way it was treated. But now, Lloyd Winnecke appears to be doing the same thing with our 2001 master plan and city future as a whole. After the Roberts Stadium debacle, Winnecke decided that he wanted to build up community trust (gee I wonder why). To do this, he created the program VOICE...
"This initiative is about building trust amongst the members of our community and learning that if we all join together and have civil dialogue about our future desires and current issues, we can create a strong society that will thrive and grow." -Lloyd Winnecke
It would seem to me that if Winnecke were genuinely concerned about this issue, he would either prove or remove the page 13 that misled the entire media as well as the Parks Board from what those who came to our task force meetings felt about Roberts Stadium. Let's be honest, there is no trust in this city anymore, and it's because of things like the Roberts Stadium Task Force Report.
Can you guess who is running VOICE? You got it, Lynn Miller-Pease...
Is Lynn Miller in the report the Lynn Miller-Pease running voice? If so, did this affect Winnecke's decision to place her in charge of running these programs?
The main problem with the VOICE project is that we already have a downtown master plan. It was constructed in 2001 and most of its parts are still in play. In fact, it was a campaign promise of Winnecke's to update this master plan and move forward with it. To replace this master plan with VOICE is not in the best interests of our city. Thankfully, the residents of Evansville aren't falling for VOICE...
"I would go to the meetings if I knew it wouldn't be a complete waste of time, or if it had an open bar. The only people that will attend these meeting will be the political butt kissers. There is a reason that this story has been up now for almost 24 hours and there has been only two post. The average citizen knows its just another dog and pony show so that the mayor can apply his own plan with his own agenda all under the veil of community involvement."
We have already seen this before, it's getting old."
It appears that most of the residents of Evansville feel this way. How many attended the session at Harrison High School?
"Stick people figured prominently in nearly all the idealized images of the future sketched out by some 17 people who joined Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke and more than a dozen Leadership Evansville staff and volunteers at Harrison High School for a couple hours Saturday morning, to share their ideas about Evansville's past, present and potential future."
That's right, Roberts Stadium supporters outnumbered all of VOICE's participants. And how serious did Winnecke take this session?
"The mayor embodied the informal nature of the meeting, dressed in a blue polo shirt, baggy khaki cargo shorts and sneakers with bright orange panels and neon yellow laces. He joined the group for all the brainstorming, including his own drawing, executed as he sucked on a red Tootsie Pop."
Is it just me or did the Courier & Press just describe clown shoes? Did Lynn Miller-Pease talk marketing demographics, geographics, urban planning constraints, financial constraints, or anything else that is imperative when laying out capital improvement projects? Well, she did start off with The Flower Man Book..
In 2001, Gateway Consultants drew up a 100 + page report that analyzed all of the market demographics and urban planning challenges before drawing up a plan that consisted of a ballpark, a canal, a marina, an arena, a new civic center, a government services park, and a revitalized Main Street. What did VOICE draw up?
Photo Credit: Linda Negro of the Evansville Courier & Press
That's right, Crayola Crowns rule the day at VOICE sessions.
Moving forward, I find it to be extremely important that Evansville residents maintain their boycott of VOICE. Capital improvement projects and community planning are vital to a city. We cannot afford to treat this process like a joke. That is what happened to Roberts Stadium, and that is what is happening at VOICE. In Oklahoma City, residents got serious about their city and it worked...
It may be too late to save Roberts Stadium, BUT, it is not to late to make sure what happened to Roberts Stadium doesn't happen to the rest of our city. Thank you Evansville residents for boycotting VOICE!
I'll be honest, I'm usually a glass half-empty type of person. And when it comes to last Tuesday's election, the glass wasn't left half-empty, it was left 99.9% empty. Like last year, Evansville failed to take advantage of the many great candidates who came into the election looking to do what is right for their city instead of their career.
Before I get into the .01% good news we received Tuesday, I want to first discuss and thank those who ran for Evansville and Roberts Stadium but came up short in the election. We owe it to these people to make sure they get the thanks and praise they worked so hard for.
The first candidate who I feel got shafted was Lon Walters. Those of you who read this blog frequently know that I am an enormous supporter of Lon. I don't think there's any question that he lost last year's City Council race to Mosby simply because of the R he had behind his name in an overwhelmingly Democrat area. I have yet to hear anyone from any organization come up to me and tell me they were damn glad they voted for Mosby (are they embarrassed?). But on the flip side, I had to quit counting the amount of people who have told me they wish they lived in the 2nd Ward when Lon was up for election. That speaks for itself.
12 months later, Lon was in the middle of yet another fight that couldn't have gone any lower. His opponent decided to withdraw from the election, was told she couldn't, then decides she's going to campaign again. For Lon to have to battle these type of elections is embarrassing to the city of Evansville. It reminds me a lot of what J.D Strouth has had to battle. Next election cycle, let's get these guys in office.
Also, I want to thank Will Singleton for the battle he ran for the EVSC School Board. What I liked about his campaign the most was that it was grass roots, it was blue collar and hard working, and it was honest. It was nice to see a candidate out there battling on the issues instead of taking marching orders from Mark Owen or Wayne Parke. This was Will's first election, and I'm confident he will be back. So for those who thought they would bury grass roots candidates like Will Singleton, think again!
Lastly, the loss that has given me the most hard burn this week was the Evansville Treasurer's race where Rick Davis came up just a little short of re-election. Many of those who are a part of the local shadow government are hoping that this is Rick's last election. But they aren't considering the following...
1. Rick only lost by roughly 1,000 votes in an election that had 70,000 votes
2. The amount of votes Rick got was more than what he and Lloyd Winnecke got COMBINED last year.
3. Most of those who are fighting Rick behind the scenes will be out of office and/or will have left Evansville by 2015 when the next mayoral election rolls around. Look back to 2007, how many of those candidates are still running for office or are even still in town? Even politicians like leaving Evansville.
If we are going to be successful in dismantling the machine that runs Evansville, we need to get Rick Davis back in government! There are enough supporters of Roberts Stadium alone to make this happen so let's get it done.
Now, with all of that being said, there is ONE single race (the .01%) that we can celebrate, and I plan on doing just that. Early on, I supported the Yes! campaign with the main reason being that I was overwhelmingly satisfied with consolidation when I lived in Lexington, Kentucky. The best thing consolidation did for Lexington was help the city establish an urban growth boundary which has helped keep Lexington's infrastructure expenses in check and their environmental impact to a minimum.
But as I dug deeper into the Yes! campaign., I was convinced more than ever that the powers that be in Evansville weren't interested in true consolidation. Rather, these "advocates" mostly consisted of bad people wanting to do bad things to Evansville such as gain an enormous amount of power for them and their cronies, approve of a plan they didn't believe in but were told to do so, and/or develop a plan that didn't even consist of zoning changes much less an urban growth boundary.
Given that belief, I went to Wesselman Park yesterday and chucked my Yes! sign in the recycling bin. Maybe the people who run Wesselman Woods & Park, who were so hellbent that they needed Roberts Stadium demolished, can find a use for this sign...
Not only was I glad to see the plan that was deemed "consolidation" fail to pass, I was also glad to see the Yes! campaign specifically fail miserably by a 66-34 margin. The main reason I was glad to see this was the fact that here we had a conglomerate of city officials and leaders who basically screwed Roberts Stadium over royally only to get soundly defeated with their own project by city and county residents directly.
What were some of the highlights of the Yes! campaign defeat?
-Roberta Heiman and the League of Women Voters spent over 2 years working on the plan only to lose by a 2-1 voter margin. Not only is Heiman a member of the League of Women Voters, she also leads the Evansville Trails Coalition, an organization that I fully support even though I don't support Heiman leading this organization.
Last year, I went to an ETC meeting to specifically let them know that I wanted to craft a plan that benefited EVERYONE, not just those who supported Roberts Stadium. I talked about the fact that we could build a park in the back lot that would be roughly the size of the green space going up on the old airport lot. I talked about the fact that we could use Roberts Stadium as an indoor greenway trail hub on non-event days just like I have discussed on this blog many times over.
What struck me as odd was the fact that almost all of the members were excited about the prospect of these ideas... EXCEPT Heiman who said "Given we already have the mall we may not need an indoor facility." So if we have sidewalks and park trails do we still need a greenway? And why would anyone want to go walking in a mall where traffic patterns are going in multiple directions when they could go to Roberts which would be for walkers only just like Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is in Gainesville, Florida on non-event days?
As the meeting finished up, Heiman looked at me and said, "One man CAN make a difference." Little did I know, Winnecke would appoint her to the Parks Board where she would approve demolition of Roberts Stadium while saying " I am so excited about this lot." So much for one person making a difference. The actions of Roberta Heiman are solid proof that one man cannot make a difference. Although, one city and/or one county can make a difference which they did by rejecting Heiman's consolidation plan which she worked over 2 + years on.
My favorite moment came at the debate that took place at the C.K Newsome Center where Heiman tried to take over while Rick Davis was speaking for CORE. Instantly, Davis reminded her who was right and who had the floor. THANK YOU RICK!
- The Southwestern Indiana Chamber of Commerce (makes the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim look like a short name) was dealt a major defeat. While other chambers have designed and crafted good public policies such as Louisville's "Earn & Learn" and Oklahoma City's "MAPS" programs, our local chamber has been wasting their time on projects that benefit politicians and not city residents.
It was bad enough that the chamber would support David Dunn and the ECVB's ball field's plan, but it's even worse for them to support an interstate that is 84 miles LONGER than existing interstates (and is getting close to $5 billion when the Ohio River bridge is factored in)...
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To make matters worse, the chamber was the main organization spearheading the consolidation referendum, and you can take it to the bank that that is why many of our city politicians gave an effort on this referendum to begin with.
To get their plan passed, the chamber did everything. They threw thousands of dollars, many politicians and all of their political capital at this plan. But at the end of the day, THEY DIDN'T EVEN COME CLOSE! I sure hope this referendum was a wake-up call to the chamber to start changing their policy views but let's be honest, they won't be changing any time soon.
- Lloyd Winnecke and Carol McClintock were the main political leaders for consolidation. In fact, "Friends of Lloyd Winnecke" gave $10,000 to the cause. When I went down to the Fall Festival this year, I witnessed McClintock herself going up to as many people as she could find to pass out YES! literature to. Winnecke and McClintock did everything they could to get this passed. Thankfully, it was city and county voters who were in charge this time and they sent them a solid NO! message.
My opinion as to why Winnecke lost this battle boils down to the following reasons...
- There was no report for a page 13 to come into play
- There was no Parks Board to make the final approval
- There was no task force that was loaded down with Winnecke supporters who knew nothing about arenas (or consolidation for that matter)
- There was no way around the will of the voters and the people of the city and county like there was with Roberts Stadium.
- There was no judge whose wife was a Winnecke campaign supporter
When you take away the above 5 advantages Winnecke had in the Roberts Stadium battle, he basically has no hope of getting any of his plans or ideas passed. Lloyd Winnecke's plan to demolish Roberts Stadium was never popular at any of the task force sessions or with hardly any of the neighbors around Roberts Stadium or in the Evansville area for that matter. I would give anything for Indiana to be a referendum state so that what happened to Roberts Stadium could not happen again.
So, while last Tuesday's results may have not been everything we had hoped for, there was indeed one ray of sunshine for Roberts Stadium. The defeat of the YES! campaign was a small amount of justice for Roberts Stadium, although it certainly wasn't enough to save the facility.
Moving forward, it's going to be very hard knowing that we will not be able to save Roberts Stadium. So in the meantime, let's take our minds off of demolition for just a brief moment to celebrate the Yes! Campaign getting owned by Evansville and Vanderburgh County residents!
56 years ago today, it was October 28th, 1956- Opening Day for Roberts Stadium. After two long years of construction, the first event was finally held with the Harlem Globetrotters taking the floor...
(click on images to enlarge)
Ironically enough, the original design of Roberts Stadium is the design the city should be reverting back to today. If you look at this picture taken in 1960, you will see why the city should be scaling Roberts back to a mid-sized arena...
Although I'm glad to see Roberts Stadium still standing 56 years after 1956, I also realize the future doesn't look bright. And make no mistake, the future is dim because of Evansville's city government, not because of Evansville's legendary arena. I am embarrassed and ashamed for 56 years worth of hard work put into Roberts Stadium to be left in the hands of people like John Friend, Dave Rector, and Lloyd Winnecke who couldn't care any less.
Until our city commits to a complete change in leadership, we are constantly going to be blowing the candles out on the birthday cake for the final time.
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One of the main things that I have learned from Roberts Stadium these past 2 years is that Evansville's brain drain has finally started to take its toll. Let's be honest, there are no more Ralph Legeman architects to draw up dynamic and industry changing designs such as the fieldhouse design, there are no more Hank Roberts mayors to make progress while focusing on preservation as well, and there are no more Arad McCutchans to lead our teams to titles while both their old and new basketball facilities stay intact due to their hard work. Nope, today's leaders are only focused on individual goals for their own careers, and that's mainly due to the fact that they just don't have the talent to accomplish much more than that.
So for what appears to be the final time- Happy Birthday Roberts Stadium! Thanks for the past 56 years!
Although stranger things have happened, it now appears that last night was the final nail in the coffin for any hope of getting the city to do the right thing by scaling Roberts Stadium down to a mid-sized arena. With the Parks Dept, the City Council, and the courts all weighing in on the issue (of course they all had Winnecke supporters controlling them) it now appears that we are finally on our own...
First of all, I would like to thank Dr. Dan Adams, Al Lindsey, and Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley for electing to stick with their original no votes. It now appears that they were the last remaining obstacles to stop Winnecke's out of control destruction of Roberts Stadium, an arena they first said needed to replaced by the Ford Center because it wasn't competitive enough only to reverse course and claim the facility would compete with the Ford Center.
I also want to point out that the history books will now forever show John Friend, Connie Robinson, and Missy Mosby as the ultimate Benedict Arnold's of Evansville history for their decision to change their votes. They had a golden opportunity to do the right thing. This opportunity was theirs for the taking since their election bids even started. But in the end, they choose to side with The Machine as usual and I, along with the help of you the residents of Evansville, shall do everything in my power to remind voters of this decision on November 3rd, 2015 at the polls.
I wasn't surprised one bit in Mosby's decision (I'm actually kind of glad I don't have to act like I support her anymore), but for John Friend and Connie Robinson to cast their vote for this plan is simply mind-blowing given their bold decision to support rehabbing out city cemeteries.
Thanks for being consistent Missy!
As for the three others- Dan McGinn, Conor O'Daniel, and Jonathan Weaver, there really isn't much to say. They never cared about this facility, they never took any time to investigate this facility (Weaver was on the same sub-committee I was on. The whole time he kept fighting all plans to renovate the facility), and they certainly were never willing to go against The Machine to fight for Roberts Stadium. My only thought is this- What does it say for the city when those who are willing to destroy a perfectly fine building are more dedicated than those who are willing to vote to change Evansville by preserving and improving it with Roberts Stadium?
So where do we go from here? Truthfully, I really don't think there is anywhere to go. It would be nice if the city were willing to leave the outside walls and gates that could be used as both a memorial and a "roofless church" design similar to New Harmony. It would also cut down on demolition. But given that the mayor is hellbent on taking care of UE via the selling of bricks, that appears unlikely. And given that the mayor will probably take care of his buddies at either the UE or USI art departments when it comes time to design a horrendous looking memorial, I don't expect him to let the actual building itself get in the way. I don't expect the mayor to stop disgracing Roberts Stadium anytime soon, even after the building is gone.
For the time being, I will keep posting things here and there about this decision. I will also finally get around to posting a timeline that shows that Winnecke did not give a good faith effort to repurpose Roberts Stadium. I don't plan on switching this blog back over to Remember Roberts Stadium any time soon.
I thank you the viewers of the blog for your support for Roberts Stadium and hopefully something else will put a wrench in Winnecke's plan to knock down Roberts Stadium!
We've heard just about every financial complaint known to man from those who want to demolish Roberts Stadium. We've been told by these so called "financial experts" that the city should not undertake any more investments in Roberts Stadium. Obviously, this argument fails on many levels from the start...
1. This belief fails to mention how it would save any tax dollars given that the Innkeepers Tax has been collected, is still being collected, and will continue to be collected regardless of what happens to Roberts Stadium. What it basically comes down to for the county is do they want a year round indoor facility or a seasonal outdoor ball fields facility. I think it's safe to say which option the public has expressed support for.
2. This belief fails to mention that the proposed dog park plan is twice the price of renovating Roberts Stadium.
3. This belief fails to mention that selling the facility would in all likelihood prevent the city from synchronizing Roberts Stadium with the Ford Center, would prevent the city from using the back lot to connect Wesselman Woods with State Hospital Park, and would prevent the city from using Roberts Stadium as a designated disaster relief area among many other things.
4. This belief fails to reinvest the taxpayer dollars previously spent on Roberts Stadium in 1956 and 1990/91.
5. This belief fails to take into account the facts that the majority of expenses can be eliminated via raising the floor and shrinking the size of the facility.
6. This belief completely fails to take into account the revenue that would be accrued from a renovated Roberts Stadium.
If you go to page 9 of the Roberts Stadium Task Force Report (an actual page that wasn't added fraudulently) you will see that the price tag to renovate Roberts Stadium is $4,000,000 to $4,500,000...
Note: The estimate obtained from SMG is an estimate for a premier arena given that Evansville has no mid-sized arena. With a mid-sized arena, renting tenants would be responsible for their own expenses.
Now, let's take a look at how much it cost to recruit the LST...
"To have Evansville as LST's home, the city built a $3 million dock in 2005, pays the vessel's roughly $20,000 annual electric bill and helps address some maintenance issues."
How many visitors does it bring in?
"LST visitor numbers aren't what they used to be — the 12,000 or so visitors per year they saw early on has decreased by about a third since then, Donahue said."
Basically, for Roberts Stadium to equal the amount of visitors the LST brought in each year, we would only have to fill the facility (assuming capacity is scaled down to 5,000 visitors) THREE TIMES all year. Or, to reach current levels we would just need to completely fill the arena ONCE a year.
With $3 million invested in Roberts, that would leave us with just $1 million to $1.5 million to go. Basically, the same cost as demolition. Given that the LST is under a ten year contract, we can set our naming rights deals to the gates equal to 10 years. Basically. we would only have to sell each gate for $25,000 to $35,000 a year to equal this cost.
What would Roberts Stadium do that the LST cannot...
1. Bring in more visitors
2. Bring in more revenue
3. Bring in a wider variety of entertainment
4. Provide more intangible benefits
5. Guarantee the city it will not pick up and move to another city
Make no mistake, I am a HUGE fan of the LST. In fact, I think the ship is getting screwed over by the city. The fact that the LST is still in the same horrible location it arrived at with no museum is pathetic. If I were the LST, I would have been gone to Jeffersonville yesterday.
The point I'm trying to make is not that the LST is a bad investment. Rather, the point I'm trying to make is that Roberts Stadium is being held up to a double standard. When the $3 million was spent on the LST dock there was no...
- People crying foul about spending tax dollars
- A green space being considered as an alternative
- City officials demanding that it turn a profit
Are there any other facilities that are losing money that is comparable to the one time renovation cost of Roberts?
"...that the Evansville Zoo lost $3.2 millions of dollars in 2012?…that City Controller Russ Lloyd Jr. estimates that the Zoo will lose $3.4 million of dollars in 2014?"
That's right, the zoo basically loses in one year what it would cost to renovate Roberts Stadium one time. And these figures are coming from a City Controller who thinks Roberts is a bad investment?
Earlier this month, the Courier & Press published an article from past mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel. In the article, Weinzapfel talked about the city lacking a unified vision. He then went on to say that everyone should respect the views of others. This begs the question:
Shouldn't Roberts Stadium receive equal treatment as all other facilities that aren't even performing as good as Roberts would?
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