I've always found it to be quite amazing how those who want to knock Roberts Stadium over claim that the ball fields project was "green" while Roberts Stadium is an environmental nightmare. If you stop and think about it for just a moment, you will realize that this notion is completely false as Roberts Stadium takes up less room than the ball fields (more room for a green space or park), it will have at least 1 to 2 parking lots that will need to be redeveloped if it is downsized to a mid-sized arena, and Roberts Stadium offers the lot a source of income to keep the park or green space going which they cannot on their own.
One of my biggest pet peeves is seeing a development project built without any consideration for the future. I feel like this short-sighted vision never benefits a city in the long run and it almost always costs the city more to fix in later years. For example, it would seem to me that city officials would want to leave room in the Ford Center so that when we are ready to expand the facility to NCAA Tournament levels we can do so very easily.
Obviously, you would suspect that filling in the upper level bowl would be the first renovation. Unfortunately, the Ford Center is not built for future expansion as the roof over the southern part of the arena (the part where there is no upper level) is lower than the rest of the of roof and contains all of the arena's mechanical systems on top of it. So, if the city ever decides that they want to make the Ford Center bigger than just a regional draw arena, they will have to pay dearly for it. This is one of the worst cases of bad planning.
In order for us to get the Roberts Stadium project right, we need to make sure that we have a master plan for the entire complex drawn up so that we have a vision for how our project is going to be a success in both the short term and long term futures. Since we cannot build our entire complex at once, we must carefully lay out a plan that will take into consideration the goals, objectives, and vision of the residents who came to our public hearings. We must also make sure that they are assembled in a manner that is financially efficient as well as aligned in a way that maximizes profit and potential for each facility.
In earlier posts, I unveiled a basic layout of what I'd like to see the complex become...
(click on photos to enlarge)
Since I've talked about Roberts Stadium becoming a mid-sized arena until I've become blue in the face, I would like to address some of the other pieces to the puzzle so that we all understand how each piece fits into the puzzle.
In an effort to reach out to those who support demolishing Roberts Stadium simply because they want a green space and/or park on the lot, I will begin by addressing the park/green space, Greenway, and statues aspect of my proposal.
First of all, let's make sure that everyone understands just how big the back lot is. Looking at the above photo, you will see that the lot is approximately 150% the size of Roberts Stadium itself. This lot is plenty big enough for us to design something nice that will serve those who want something "green." Here is a look at the lot from Roberts Stadium...
And here is a look at the size of the lot looking at Roberts Stadium...
Now that we understand just how big the lot is, let's set our binding constraints for what should and shouldn't be in the area...
1. Whatever we construct must be unique from the State Hospital Grounds. We need this lot to give us something that our existing parks don't already give us.
2. We need to make sure that only a limited amount of new growth trees are planted on the lot so that their seedlings don't mix with the trees in the old growth Wesselman Woods.
3. We need to establish a connection between Wesselman Woods and the State Hospital Grounds with this lot.
4. We need to construct features that those who attended the meetings want to see.
5. We must leave a small fraction of the parking lot next to Roberts Stadium for handicap patrons, Double Cola Field patrons, and for those who want to park next to the park/green space itself.
6. We must construct the project in phases and leave room for gradual improvement when funds become available.
7. This project should also enhance current land that is owned by the Evansville Parks Department so that any funds dedicated to this project also address existing assets.
Given the above binding constraints, let's take this piece by piece...
Let's start with what the public said they want to see the most- a lake. What makes a lake an easy choice to implement on the land is...
1. It will serve as a buffer between Wesselman Woods and Roberts Stadium.
2. It has the potential to have a unique design.
3. It doesn't contain any new growth trees.
4. It doesn't need to be mowed.
5. It can generate a very small amount of revenue with boat and canoe rentals.
6. There already is an existing retention pond on the other side of the Double Cola Fields.
7. There is a deep water history in the area with the Wabash & Erie Canal.
8. There is no lake of reasonable size in the area outside of the tiny State Hospital ponds.
In my rough sketch outline, a lake would look something like this on the lot...
As you can see from the rendering, this lake would draw tourists, citizens, and sports fans to it due to its unique triangle design. This design reminds me of the design of Triangle Park in Lexington, Kentucky...
http://www.kentucky.com/2010/11/19/1531004/triangle-park-to-close-for-major.html
Next, we need to add the green space that has been asked for by those who support demolition...
Once this area is clearly out for the green space, we can do a few unique but affordable things with the area such as...
1. Leaving room for a canoe launch
2. Leaving each corner for each of our universities. USI gets one corner, UE gets the other, while Ivy Tech gets the last corner. Each year, the three universities compete in a challenge to see who can develop the best corner
3. In between the corners are benches, docks overlooking the water, and a few plaques commemorating the various athletes, singers, politicians, and celebrities who have made at least one appearance at Roberts Stadium.
At this point, what we have laid out is very affordable and should be done with the Roberts Stadium renovation as we will already have the construction crews on the lot. Now, we need to start laying down a plan for future development. Without a doubt, a Greenway connector has to be the first thing on the docket...
Today, I decided to walk the existing trail that goes from the back lot to the entrance of Wesselman Woods...
This is an aerial view of the path I took...
As soon as you begin your walk, you will see quite a few pieces of trash surrounding the entrance that remind us that we don't need an entirely new park that takes up the whole Roberts Stadium lot until we clean up our existing parks....
Nevertheless, we must plan to overhaul this in order to establish connectivity with all of our facilities. As you can see from the photos above, the current path is very narrow but with plenty of room for expansion...
While the current configuration may work just fine for walking and biking, if we are going to eventually connect all of our facilities, we will want to have a small water connection as well. Although this probably wouldn't happen for another 20 years minimum, planning for a future canal the size of two canoes would bring many benefits with it such as...
1. It will connect the Roberts Stadium property with the Wesselman Woods property in a more natural way than just a concrete path.
2. It will connect the Roberts Stadium property with the former Wabash & Erie Canal- a major marketing tool for the ECVB to attract visitors.
3. Constructing a canal would reduce the automobile lanes down to one which will reduce auto emissions, decrease the average speed of visiting automobiles, and will reduce the amount of collisions between an auto and a Wesselman Woods animal.
4. It would allow Canoe Evansville the opportunity to stay at home for canoe events.
5. There's already a retention pond on the other side of the National Guard Armory for future expansion.
Already, there is a natural ditch just waiting to be expanded down by the Wabash & Erie Canal...
The only area where it would be hard to dig a small canal would be the entrance to Wesselman Woods. Basically we would have three options...
1. Build a small bridge over the canal for auto traffic.
2. Prevent traffic from going farther than the circle road that is only a few feet away from the entrance.
3. Relocate the entrance.
Ideally, keeping the main traffic in the circle area, where plenty of parking exists, while constructing a small bridge for Wesselman Woods vehicles to enter would seem to be the best plan. But, no matter what would be chosen, this small bridge would be the only infrastructure that would bisect the canal away from the Roberts Stadium property.
What About The Rest Of The Greenway Path?
We talked about what we can do with the eastern back lot and we talked about the eventual master plan we can expand from this initial project of a lake and green space. But what direction should the Greenway take as it leaves the other side of Roberts Stadium?
By far and away, the Greenway should come out of Gate 1 and head down through the open green space to the Lloyd Expressway marquee before wrapping around Division street and crossing over to the State Hospital Grounds...
For those who haven't followed this blog every single day, I talked about the need to make financing Roberts Stadium's renovation personal...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/07/lets-make-funding-personal.html
One of those financing mechanisms would come via the selling of bricks and plaques. To bring attention to these bricks and plaques, we need to make the area standpoint. One way we can do that is by constructing two statues- one of Hank Roberts and one of Ralph Legeman. Of all of the statues I have seen, the ones in Alabama outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium stand out to me most...
These statues, along with bricks and plaques with the names of our citizens and corporations, will help us generate funds to renovate Roberts Stadium while giving those who come to the complex a place to relax and take in Roberts Stadium's history. Even better is the fact that this area has a special parking lot...
So, to recap all that we talked about today, let's break down the different phases of how we can add some green space and park life to Roberts Stadium...
Phase One: The Roberts Stadium back lot is partially removed to construct a lake and a green space. This is done while renovations inside Roberts Stadium are ongoing. The rest of the parking lot is reconstructed to maximize the amount of parking spaces between Roberts Stadium and the lake. Outside of Gate 1, a small park consisting of two statues are constructed in order to raise funds for the renovation to Roberts Stadium.
Phase Two: After proper funding from city, state, and federal transportation funds have been identified, the Greenway trail shall be extended over to the State Hospital Grounds and over to Wesselman Woods.
Phase Three: Once the Greenway is finished, a small canal (about the size of two canoes) shall be constructed in order to promote Evansville's history with the Wabash & Erie Canal, establish a connection with Roberts Stadium and Wesselman Woods, and to promote Canoe Evansville.
The bottom line is this: If we all work together, we will build a comprehensive plan for the complex that everyone of all different tastes, interests, and hobbies can enjoy. And if we plan for the future, everyone can get even more of what they're looking for.
But to accomplish this, we must plan for the future. Let's Save Roberts Stadium, and let's layout a comprehensive master plan that slowly but surely builds an outdoor recreational surrounding we can all be proud of!
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