When I first started the campaign to save Roberts Stadium, I pegged the odds at that time of being 5-10% that city government would give Roberts Stadium a fair chance. Everything, and I mean everything, was going against us. The ball fields plan was being marketed as the "green" thing to do, demolition supporters were lying to the public about Roberts Stadium's condition, and the previous mayor's administration had plenty of allies in high ranking positions to make the public believe that it was a fact, not an opinion, that Roberts Stadium was past its time.
For those who have not seen the film 12 Angry Men, please take the time (96 minutes and 22 seconds) to watch the film before we move along with this post. Please make sure you watch the film before moving along with this post as the film is the only way you will truly grasp the meaning of what I'm conveying to you in this post. You won't regret watching it, it's that good...
As you saw in the film, the murder trial appeared to be a slam dunk (pun intended) at the beginning that the boy was guilty of murdering his father. The evidence appeared to be overwhelmingly in favor of guilty, and the last thing that 11 of the 12 jurors wanted to do was to discuss the case for even a minute. If it wasn't for the 1 juror who refused to take the evidence at face value, the jury wouldn't have taken a serious look at the evidence that was perceived to be "obvious."
But as the film moves along, the entire jury, one-by-one, begins to take a deeper look at the evidence and realizes that they would be making a mistake convicting the boy of the crime. Eventually, all jurors realize that voting not-guilty is the correct decision.
If you've been following the Roberts Stadium debate since the beginning, you will see that the trial that Roberts Stadium has been put on is going exactly like the film. So far, the script is playing out like this...
- The trial started out with the previous ECVB and Parks Dept declaring Roberts Stadium to be "functionally obsolete." This was followed up by David Dunn writing into the Courier & Press with an estimate of $500,000 a year to maintain the Roberts Stadium property.
- These statements were then backed up by the previous mayor who then declared that no one was interested in Roberts Stadium and cited costs of several million dollars (it went as low as $39 million and as high as $90 million) to keep the venue.
- At this point, very few residents were prepared to stand in front of city hall who was barrelling down on Roberts Stadium. The only groups that were united in opposition to Roberts Stadium simply wanted a park on the lot instead of 8 ball fields...
http://www.14news.com/story/13313475/new-sports-complex-gets-its-first-hit?clienttype=printable
- By this point, I was fortunate to have had this blog up and running for a few months. That's when things began to change. This blog came out with its opposition to demolishing Roberts Stadium AND proposed an alternative site for the ball fields.
- Once this happened, you could see that momentum was very slowly beginning to creep over to Roberts Stadium's side. While the vast majority of residents still rejected the notion that something could be done with Roberts Stadium, a few residents began to look at the notion of giving Roberts Stadium a fair trial. At this point, the Wesselman Park Support Group, the neighbors of Roberts Stadium, and those opposed to the ball fields all joined forces with Save Roberts Stadium.
- Then, I released a post that dealt with the REAL interpretation of the HNTB and Gateway Consultants report...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2010/12/hntb-existing-roberts-stadium-building.html
I followed this up with a video on the City-County Observer...
http://city-countyobserver.com/2011/01/14/video-tribute-to-roberts-stadium-by-jordan-baer/
After these two posts made its way around town, several residents began rethinking their belief about Roberts Stadium. Around that time, the ball fields project officially died. This was followed up with the previous ECVB racking up a $2,000 alcohol bill at Biaggi's and then resigning because of it.
- At this point, we were rolling along pretty well but we still needed to bring more residents and city leaders to our side for this to happen.
- Then, while filming the show Newsmakers, I met with Rick Davis who officially became the first political candidate to endorse saving Roberts Stadium...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2010/12/2011-mayoral-candidate-rick-davis.html
- Rick Davis got the ball rolling for other political candidates to come on board. In all, over 11 candidates took the pledge to save Roberts Stadium. Seeing that defeat was imminent, Mayor Weinzapfel officially announced that he would not seek a third term as mayor and handed Roberts Stadium to the next mayor who would later become Lloyd Winnecke.
- With the previous administration out of the equation, a large percentage of the public was ready to come over to Roberts Stadium's side. They started realizing that there indeed was hope for the legendary venue and they began to see that what the previous administration was doing was nothing but smoke and mirrors. Still though, there were still a few residents who believed that Roberts Stadium was beyond repair.
- At the first public hearing last week, there were still a few who thought that Roberts Stadium would have to be demolished in order for things like a green space to prosper and for the rest of the city to enjoy progress.
But when the USI basketball situation, the amount of tenants that can be satisfied with a mid-sized venue, the fact that Roberts Stadium and the Ford Center will NEVER compete with each other, and the belief that a master plan which would be designed to address those who want to save Roberts Stadium, construct a green space, build a natatorium/fix Hartke Pool, and bring a BMX Park to the complex while making financial sense if we space the projects out and construct the complex like pieces to a puzzle. That is when a significant amount of people realized that they too should be on the Roberts Stadium side.
- This past Saturday, demolition supporters were dealt a huge setback when the public was allowed to tour the facility shortly before a public discussion about what to do with the facility. Early on, demolition supporters such as Building Authority director Dave Rector thought the tour would gain momentum for them, they were wrong. The public FINALLY got to see the real Roberts Stadium, they finally got to see its potential, and they finally got to see that those in the media who want to demolish Roberts Stadium were completely misleading the public. Now, demolition supporters are running for the hills.
To complete the Robert Stadium Trial story, all that is needed is for one more public hearing, the task force to finish up the research, and for Mayor Winnecke to make the bold and correct decision of keeping Roberts Stadium. I'm confident, more than I ever have been, that he will make this decision and the vast majority of the public will look upon him favorably for doing it.
Going back to the film 12 Angry Men, you will see that the jurors represent the different factions of our Roberts Stadium story as well. For instance...
The juror who kept wanting to leave to go to the ballgame
This juror represents those who supported the ball fields project. They didn't want to hear anything about Roberts Stadium, all they wanted to do was build the ball fields. Once they began to step back and realize that there are better sites for the ball fields, they slowly began to come over to Roberts Stadium's side.
The juror who wasn't convinced until the red spots from his glasses were pointed out
This juror represents those who look at Roberts Stadium from a financial standpoint only. At the beginning, they were very adamant that it made no financial sense to save Roberts Stadium. They then began to dig themselves into this stance by looking at frivolous things such as a water pump break or a minor water leak. It wasn't until these costs were compared to the potential revenues from Roberts Stadium and the costs of building and maintaining another park did this group begin to realize that saving Roberts Stadium was a good idea.
The juror who was irritated at the other jurors for considering a not-guilty verdict.
This juror represents those in the public who take what they read at face value. Many of them get up, read the newspaper, and then regurgitate whatever they read. As a result, they found it absolutely ridiculous for anyone to suggest that Roberts Stadium be saved. They have a tendency to believe everything that is said by media sources that are deemed to be trusted and reliable while always rejecting anything that goes against these media outlets' beliefs. After Saturday, this juror has officially moved to our side after seeing Roberts Stadium himself.
The jury foreman
This juror represents Mayor Lloyd Winnecke. He was committed from the start to making sure that Roberts Stadium was dealt with in a methodical and fair way although he probably leaned towards demolition initially. Then, when conflict arose he still remained true to the process although his initial belief may not have changed. But as the conflict began to tilt towards the Roberts Stadium side, Lloyd soon realized that his methodical and fair process had paid off and that the real Roberts Stadium was coming to the surface. In the end, I am VERY confident that he will do what the jury foreman did and vote not-guilty with the rest.
The second juror to vote not-guilty
This juror represents the vast majority of the public. Initially, they were skeptical of Roberts Stadium and thought demolition was the best option. But after seeing what those who stood up for Roberts Stadium had to say, they became the next people to stand up and fight for Roberts Stadium. This juror group has been on our side for quite some time now, and they are only getting stronger in their belief that Roberts Stadium should be here to stay.
The juror who kept laughing at the situation
This juror represents those who follow the Roberts Stadium Trial from a far and don't really put much effort into it other than to joke and ridicule the situation. You can identify these types of people by hearing them talk about putting a lake inside Roberts Stadium, relating Roberts Stadium to another political disaster, or proposing other far fetched solutions for the building. Starting out, this juror really didn't take Roberts Stadium seriously and still doesn't for the most part. What this juror is starting to realize is that there is hope for Roberts Stadium and that perhaps the joke may be on them.
The only juror who refused to vote guilty from the start
This juror represents me and anyone else who refused to go along with the notion that Roberts Stadium should be demolished from the beginning. If it wasn't for this juror, Roberts Stadium would be like the boy in the film, it would have already been put to death for a crime it did not commit. Hopefully, when everything is said and done, we will be successful like this juror was in the film.
The last juror to vote not-guilty
Most definitely, this juror represents the Courier & Press, the Weinzapfel administration, and their followers. They have been convinced since day 1 that Roberts Stadium must be demolished. No matter what you tell them, they will still refuse to give Roberts Stadium even an ounce of consideration. Now that the whole city is against them, they will still remain true to demolition for a while, but in the end, as the truth comes crashing down on them, they will break down emotionally and concede that Roberts Stadium must be saved.
The rest of the jury
These jurors represent special interest groups who have only taken an interest in the Roberts Stadium situation. They had long believed that Roberts Stadium must be demolished in order for their groups to prosper. However, once it was brought to their attention that everyone can win with the Roberts Stadium complex, while no one wins once Roberts Stadium is demolished, they have suddenly had a change of heart and are willing to embrace Roberts Stadium. In the end, these jurors will realize that Roberts Stadium must be saved for the best interests of everyone.
The boy on trial
Obviously, this represents Roberts Stadium. With the weight of the whole world upon him, the boy looks sadly upon the jury to realize that he is not guilty of the accused crime. He looks upon them with a saddened look of despair as he realizes that only one juror is on his side initially, and it will be up to this one juror to get the right thing done.
In the end, the jury made the right decision. After all of the evidence was thoroughly evaluated, all 12 jurors came to the verdict of not-guilty. They walk out of the courthouse and down the steps knowing they made the right decision. Let's hope that when our 15 member task force is done with its work and Mayor Winnecke has made his decision, the same verdict is returned...
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