Our Task Force Doesn't Need To Take A Delay Of Game

This past week was suppose to be the final week for our Roberts Stadium Task Force to submit our final findings for what to do with Roberts Stadium before Mayor Lloyd Winnecke was to make a decision on the fate of this iconic building.

But as of a few days ago, this decision has been extended all the way up to April 20th. The decision is believed to be at the request of Task Force director Larry Steenberg who cited the need to have more detail in the report. You can read the press release here...

http://city-countyobserver.com/2012/03/29/roberts-stadium-recommendation-meeting-delayed/

I respectfully disagree with this decision for the following reasons...

1. In the email we received, there was nothing specific mentioned that needed any more detail. It is unclear what specifically triggered the need for an extension as no reasons were given.

2. No one in my subcommittee has been asked to clarify any of our statements. It is completely unclear what we need to clarify in our report.

3. This decision was never voted on by the task force, it was only the decision of the director.

4. The water pumps are still running. The longer these pumps run the louder critics of Roberts Stadium will get even though these pumps should be removed anyways to scale Roberts Stadium down to a mid-sized arena.

5. Regardless of what we clarify, there will still need to be another study conducted to get specifics on the engineering and construction aspects of scaling Roberts Stadium down.

6. I believe that Mayor Winnecke has an overwhelming amount of evidence in the report to make the correct decision, which is scaling Roberts Stadium down to a 5,000 to 6,000 seat arena.

7. Any information added to this report will have been done after all public meetings were conducted and should not be allowed to enter the report without public knowledge nor should it be allowed to enter after all other information was only given three months to be obtained.

I have all the respect, trust, and confidence in Mayor Lloyd Winnecke to make this decision. I truly believe that Mayor Winnecke is the smart, bold, and courageous leader we need to make this decision. All we need to do now is to finally cut through the delays and red tape and deliver our report to Mayor Winnecke.

Although this decision will be one of the largest decisions in Evansville's history (it will undoubtedly determine which direction my career as an activist goes as well), this decision really isn't a hard one to make. It certainly isn't rocket science...

istockphoto.com

The post below this one contains 20 solid reasons for why we SHOULD renovate Roberts Stadium as a mid-sized arena and 20 solid reasons why we SHOULDN'T demolish it in favor of a green space...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2012/03/in-end-it-was-those-who-support.html

These 20 reasons are basic, easy to understand, and speak for themselves. I hold these reasons to be self-evident that Roberts Stadium shall be scaled down to a mid-sized arena.

Although I was not chosen to lead my subcommittee, I am more than satisfied with the data that was sent to the Roberts Stadium Task Force to send on to Mayor Winnecke. The amount of data in that report is the byproduct of the research I have conducted these past 20 months while putting together the plan to reuse Roberts Stadium as a mid-sized arena. Unlike any of the other plans, all 6 ideas can win with a mid-sized arena if the city commits to creating a larger master plan for the area. This is the only way we will ever get good urban planning with this project.

On the flip side, if Mr. Steenberg feels that the green space subcommittee did not present an adequate amount of evidence to support their idea, I fully agree. I have been saying long before this committee was assembled that it makes no financial sense whatsoever to demolish Roberts Stadium, construct a park on the lot, and then pay to maintain this lot. Sure enough, no financial logic was presented in their plan.

There is no need to waste any more time trying to manufacture anything productive out of the green space committee's plan. It is nothing more than the byproduct of a short-sighted vision that came with zero emotion or financial logic. While I have spent the past 20 months chasing down lead after lead, meeting with city leader after city leader, and getting the word out about Roberts Stadium, green space subcommittee members like Stephanie Brinkerhoff-Riley have showed up late to meetings in basic blue jeans as if she was just there for the free Bud Light.

Our city needs to move on from this step as we still have a ways to go. Right now, our city leaders should be doing the following...

1. Conducting an official engineering study to get an official quote for raising the floor, demolishing the precast sections above street level, and fixing the roof over the concourses that were added in the 1990-91 renovation. This statement will also allow us to figure out if there are any other minor repairs needed.

2. Conducting an official business report that places a value on the sale of naming rights to the four gates, the plazas outside of Roberts Stadium, and the areas around the concourse. Our city should be reaching out to corporations as well as legends like Jerry Sloan, Larry Humes, and Scott Hafner who played at Roberts Stadium to see what kind of financial contribution they would be interested in making if their name and their legacy were put on display around Roberts Stadium.

3. Meeting with both SMG and Venuworks to work out the coordination between Roberts Stadium and the Ford Center. Our city leaders need to listen to both of these organizations to get an understanding of why Roberts Stadium and the Ford Center will not compete. They need to take the advice of both of these organizations and then let the two bid for the right to manage the facility.

4. Getting in touch with the ECVB to work out a plan to transfer the 5,000-6,000 seats that would be removed from Roberts Stadium to the ECVB's ball fields project which needs to be at Kleymeyer Park. The financial benefits for this move are tremendous for both sides. Our city needs to make sure everyone is on the right page to take advantage of this huge cost savings.

It is important to understand that neither our Roberts Stadium task force nor the subcommittee that I am on can handle any of these steps. All four of these steps are the final steps that need to be addressed by our city officials. They are simple steps but they must be performed if we are to take Roberts Stadium and the city of Evansville to the next level.

Mr. Steenberg, all three subcommittees have already turned in the information needed for Mayor Winnecke to make his decision. This information speaks for itself. Let's not waste any more time trying to change any of these facts. THE SHOT CLOCK ON THE GREEN SPACE IDEA HAS EXPIRED!

dwhoops.com

dwhoops.com

Let's Celebrate 200 Years of History With 55 Years and 97 Years of History

evansville200.com

It's now been 200 years since Hugh McGary founded Evansville. Over these past 200 years, Evansville has seen many things come and go. But at the same time, many iconic landmarks still stand to remind Evansville of its rich history.

To commemorate Evansville's 200th birthday, our city is actually given what appears to be an honest effort at recognizing it, marketing it, and building off it (although I was pretty let down yesterday when the ECVB wouldn't give me a sticker simply because I wasn't a business). But like everything else our city leaders have attempted, they have quickly found themselves to be in an identity crisis once more due to their mixed messages.

You see, the same people who want us to believe that they are going all out to celebrate Evansville's 200th birthday are the same people who have made multiple attempts to demolish 55 years worth of our history at Roberts Stadium while neglecting 97 years worth of history at Bosse Field. Even worse is the fact that this has been going on for quite some time now and doesn't appear to be changing unless we the people demand it.

What pains me the most about our city turning a blind eye towards Roberts Stadium and Bosse Field is that both of these facilities have the potential and the capacity to bring in visitors by the thousands if we let them. Just like our 200th birthday celebration, we can leverage the history of these two facilities as both a regional and a national tourist draw. But to do this, we have to have city leaders willing to commit themselves to these two facilities.

I don't think there is a single person within a 100 miles radius of Evansville that isn't aware of Roberts Stadium. But on the flip side, I don't think there are more than a hundred people who understand the impact this facility has had on not just Evansville but the entire state of Indiana basketball.

Roberts Stadium is the largest arena constructed by local architect Ralph Legeman. Mr. Legeman holds the patent for the fieldhouse design. His work is celebrated in New Castle with the state of Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame being located next to one of his gyms. His work is also celebrated in Indianapolis with the Indiana Pacers who play at Banker's Life Fieldhouse which pays tribute to the Indiana fieldhouse design.

The whole state of Indiana understands and respects the work that Ralph Legeman has done...except Evansville. Isn't it about time that changed? We have the potential to renovate Roberts Stadium back into a true fieldhouse by removing the precast sections above street level. We also have the potential to bring in high school and college basketball tournaments to commemorate Legeman's impact on the game of basketball. The only question is why. Why aren't we taking advantage of this?

And then there is Bosse Field, a facility that will turn 100 years old on June 17th, 2015. The amazing thing about Bosse Field is that we have been given Don Mattingly's youth baseball field, the site of the film "A League of Their Own," and 97 years of baseball history all in one area. And our city leaders don't want to take advantage of this?

If we build our ball field complex at Kleymeyer Park, it will be ready just in time for Bosse Field's 100th birthday. Could we have asked for a better situation? And if we build the fields to replicate vintage MLB ballparks, which simply consists of adding faux walls, we will bring national attention to this historic complex.

Another great thing about Bosse Field is that it opened with a parade that went from Sunset Park to Bosse Field. I have already approached the Otters about bringing this festival back. Indeed, there is a perfect niche for this festival. We do not have a spring version of the Fall Festival, we can increase sales for the Otters (especially if the ball fields are built in Kleymeyer), and we put the festival in Garvin Park where it will be out of the way of traffic.

I'm not asking for our city leaders to devout every minute of their day to these two facilities. In fact, I'm not even asking them to do anything out their regular routine. All I'm asking is for a chance, a chance to turn these two facilities into the enormous potential that they contain.

What better way for our city to save Roberts Stadium and bring Bosse Field back to life than to do it in the year of Evansville's 200th birthday. We can do this, we should do this, we MUST do this!

CourierPress.com

Lexington, Kentucky Understands How To Mix Green Space With Their Arena

As I've talked about in previous posts, our Roberts Stadium project can and should work in harmony with its surrounding environment. As with all other sports venues, arenas are designed to reflect and serve their surrounding neighborhood with their environmental and financial mechanisms. Roberts Stadium is no exemption to this rule.

Contrary to what the green space subcommittee wants you to believe, we are very fortunate to have an arena like Roberts Stadium next to our Wesselman Park Nature Preserve and our State Hospital Park. We are also very fortunate to have the ability to connect these two parks with Roberts Stadium, and we are also very fortunate to have the opportunity to connect the University of Evansville to the area.

There's one other city that is planning to connect their old and historic venue with its surrounding environment. This city is the city where I went to college for sports management- Lexington, KY. The home to the University of Kentucky.

Originally, Lexington was going to build an entirely new arena for the University of Kentucky men's basketball program. Once constructed in the parking lot south of Rupp Arena, the city planned to scale Rupp Arena down to a mid-sized performing arts center that would be combined with an expansion of their convention center.

But last year, things changed. The city, facing budget woes, was unable to come up with the remaining funds for a new arena for UK who originally was going to privately finance the facility. The total cost was estimated to be at least $400-$500 million. They then did what we have done for Roberts Stadium- they formed a task force.

The Rupp Arena task force was a little bit different than ours. Their task force had 47 members, ours had 15. Their task force visited 3 arenas, ours visited zero. Their task force was given an entire district to come up with a proposal for, ours was only asked to evaluate Roberts Stadium. However, what the Rupp Arena Task Force came up with is nearly identical to what our 20 year master plan should look like...

http://ruppdistrict.com/

ruppdistrict.com

Although the Rupp Arena plan is light years more expensive than what we should spend on our project (theirs costs $250-$300 million, ours needs to be ideally $1 million but at least less than $3 million), their project has a lot of components that we need to implement in a master plan for the area. Let's take a look at some of the components that are in the Rupp Arena Task Force recommendation...

(Note: You can read the entire 32 page master plan here: http://www.ruppdistrict.com/pdfs/MasterPlanSummary.pdf)

ruppdistrict.com

http://www.kentucky.com/2012/02/01/2050062/final-report-of-rupp-task-force.html

"Recommendations

■ "Free Rupp Arena." Renovate it, maintain its historic character, make it a stand-alone structure.
■ New, bigger convention area.
■ Small performing arts center, arts education space, outdoor gathering/performance area, visual arts space.
■ Town Branch Commons, a thread of public space from the Distillery District to the East End, generally following Town Branch Creek.
■ Retail shops near Rupp Arena, facing Main Street and along Town Branch Commons Park, and a CatWalk between Avenue of Champions and the arena."
■ Parking garage and transportation hub for buses and rail."

The Task Force came up with a renovated Rupp Arena, a green space connecting all of Downtown Lexington to Rupp Arena, a canal recognizing Lexington's historic Town Branch Commons and connecting both areas, a bus and rail station that will eventually carry high speed rail, a path connecting UK with Rupp Arena, and an entertainment district around Rupp Arena. Is it just me or is this plan light years better than any plan our city leaders have ever put together? Now, let's take a look at the recommended financing sources as there is one in particular that sticks out...

"Potential funding sources

■ Revenue from premium seating, sale of stock, naming rights, advertising, concert/event promotions, concessions and parking.
■ Local and state governments and federal grants.
■ Private fund-raising.
■ Tax credits, including establishment of a tax increment financing, or TIF, district to support infrastructure and civic facilities."

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/02/01/2050062/final-http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120323/NEWS0104/303230056/Task-force-exploring-naming-rights-Lexington-near-RuppWhile Rupp Arena will likely never get a corporate naming sponsor, the area around it that includes the Lexington Convention Center could draw a naming rights deal worth $2 million annually, said the head of a task force overseeing Lexington’s entertainment district.
Arena, arts and Entertainment Task Force Chairman Brent Rice said the money could be used to bond the cost of renovating the 35-year-old home to the University of Kentucky basketball team and for developing a downtown arts and entertainment district surrounding Rupp.
The Lexington Herald-Leader (http://bit.ly/GIZby8 ) reported that Rice identified more than $25 million in potential annual revenue from naming rights and sponsorships associated with the iconic Rupp Arena, where the University of Kentucky men’s basketball team plays its home games.-Arenareport-of-rupp-task-force.html#storylinkWhile Rupp Arena will likely never get a corporate naming sponsor, the area around it that includes the Lexington Convention Center could draw a naming rights deal worth $2 million annually, said the head of a task force overseeing Lexington’s entertainment district.=cpy

What is the one source of fundraising that sticks out? Naming rights of course. But isn't both Rupp Arena and Roberts Stadium legendary names that have no potential for naming rights of any kind?

http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20120323/NEWS0104/303230056/Task-force-exploring-naming-rights-Lexington-near-Rupp-Arena

"While Rupp Arena will likely never get a corporate naming sponsor, the area around it that includes the Lexington Convention Center could draw a naming rights deal worth $2 million annually, said the head of a task force overseeing Lexington's entertainment district."

"The Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Rice identified more than $25 million in potential annual revenue from naming rights and sponsorships associated with the iconic Rupp Arena, where the University of Kentucky men's basketball team plays its home games."

No, we probably won't bring in $25 million in naming rights to our gates, pavilions, and plazas outside of Roberts Stadium, but I firmly believe we will bring in enough to pay for the vast majority of the renovations to Roberts Stadium...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/selling-secondary-naming-rights-can.html

The question that needs to be asked now is the same question I have been asking since the beginning of this journey to save Roberts Stadium-why?

Why can't our green space subcommittee and supporters understand the value of Roberts Stadium in their plan to connect all of their parks? Why can't we connect UE to Roberts Stadium like Lexington is connecting UK to Rupp Arena? Why can't our city plan for 21st century transportation technology like high speed rail? Why can't we sell naming rights to our 4 gates, our plazas, and our pavilions?

In Lexington, their historic and legendary arena is undergoing a transformation that will improve the entire district around it...

It's about time we drew up a plan for Roberts Stadium like Lexington's plan for Rupp Arena!

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/02/01/2050062/final-report-of-rupp-task-force.html#storylink=cpy

In The End, It Was Those Who Support Demolition Who Showed No Financial Logic

Tonight was the final night for the Roberts Stadium Task Force, which I am 1 of 15 members of, to present our final findings. After tonight's presentations, Mayor Winnecke has no choice but to select Roberts Stadium to be a mid-sized arena if he genuinely cares about financial logic, the will of the Evansville people, and the future of this region.

This process has seen many twists of ironies of all kinds. Tonight was no different. As we turned in our final proposals, which are now down to 6, I feel confident more than ever that we have the right plan and it will be selected.

Let's recap why the mid-sized arena proposal from my subcommittee (sub committee #3) makes the most sense...

1. Raising Roberts Stadium's floor above the water table will eliminate the water pumps expense.

2. Scaling Roberts Stadium down to 6,000 seats will allow this venue to compliment the Ford Center. We can accomplish this by demolishing the precast sections above ground level as well as the tunnels around them.

3. Both Venuworks and SMG have said that they are interested in the facility if the city agrees to coordinate the two facilities. Neither company believes a mid-sized Roberts Stadium will compete with the Ford Center.

4. A mid-sized Roberts Stadium will bring in NBDL basketball, mid-sized concerts, USI events such as preseason tournaments and the GLVC Tournament, indoor football, indoor soccer, indoor lacrosse, youth sports tournaments, high school basketball tournaments, and any other event that Venuworks would want to flex from the Ford Center.

5. A mid-sized Roberts Stadium will satisfy the needs of an expo hall that Mr. Greg Stilwell and Alan Brille have expressed interest in. They tell me that with the upper level precast gone they will have enough room to host expo events around the main concourse as well as the lower level which will be wider with the floor raised.

6. A mid-sized Roberts Stadium is the perfect place for travelling BMX events such as the Dew Tour.

7. A mid-sized Roberts Stadium leaves room for a green space in the back lot and a natatorium on the Hartke Pool site.

8. A mid-sized arena puts heads in beds with the GLVC Tournament, a preseason USI Basketball Tournament, and the Hoosier Cup with the Evansville Crush.

9. Many cities around the U.S have a premier and mid-sized arena including Louisville, Indianapolis, Omaha, Portland, Cincinnati, Des Moines, Sioux Falls, Tulsa, Nashville, Grand Rapids, Grand Forks, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Wichita, and the Canton/Youngstown region. All of these areas have coordinated their arenas successfully.

10. There are many intangible benefits to a mid-sized Roberts Stadium including a disaster relief area, a Greenway indoor trail hub, and a shuttle stop for the Ford Center.

11. Renovating Roberts Stadium which includes raising the floor ($400,000 - $500,000), fixing the roof ($50,000 - $100,000), demolishing the precast sections ($85,000), and renovating the HVAC (?) is less than the estimate the ECVB received to demolish Roberts Stadium ($1.25 million).

12. There are many sources of funding to renovate Roberts Stadium including selling naming rights to the gates, selling the old Ace's court, selling the removed seats, selling bricks, and using the $200,000 that was originally earmarked to demolish Roberts Stadium.

13. Unlike a park, Roberts Stadium can remain financially self-sufficient. It will also bring tourists and guests to Evansville while giving us something unique. A green space does none of that.

14. We can take the removed seats from Roberts Stadium and give them to the ECVB to place in their ball fields project which belongs at Kleymeyer Park, an area that actually has baseball history next to it.

15. We can co-market the Ford Center and Roberts Stadium together.

16. Roberts Stadium will maintain the economic development of the east side. Restaurants such as Kipplee's, Western Rib-Eye, and Turoni's have relied on Roberts Stadium for many years. A mid-sized Roberts Stadium would stabilize these businesses.

17. A mid-sized Roberts Stadium will bring back most of the lost SMG jobs.

18. A mid-sized Roberts Stadium will maintain the taxpayer dollars invested in it over the years.

19. A mid-sized Roberts Stadium will allow us to market local native Ralph Legeman who is the architect of Roberts Stadium. Legeman holds the patent for the fieldhouse design. His work is honored by the state of Indiana in New Castle where the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame is located next to one of his high school gymnasiums and at Banker's Life Fieldhouse which is home to the Indiana Pacers and is designed to replicate one of Legeman's fieldhouses.

20. We can honor Evansville Mayor Hank Roberts who sacrificed his political career so that Roberts Stadium could be built. His family, Kris and Lisa Jean Beard, have been very supportive of my efforts to save Roberts Stadium and I am truly grateful to them for that.

On the flip side, the green space subcommittee's proposal was atrocious. Let's break down the reasons why this idea is a bad one.

1. The most disturbing thing from this proposal was that the group NEVER considered building their green space around Roberts Stadium. This is the direct opposite of my group and group #1 who planned a green space around our Roberts Stadium proposal. This makes the lot one dimensional and only tailors to the needs of the green space community which I find to be very selfish.

2. This plan should be thrown out anyways as it makes NO financial sense. The committee even admitted that they have no idea how much maintenance, construction, or funding this park would obtain (and they say those who want to save Roberts Stadium lack financial logic). We have already heard from the Parks Dept and they cannot take on any more projects from the green space community...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-call-to-stand-evansville-parks.html

3. The green space subcommittee said they wanted connectivity to their other parks yet they failed miserably at doing it. They proposed no connection to the Wabash & Erie Canal (only the Pigeon Creek dock via a bike route), they proposed no connection to UE, and they proposed no other connection to any other park other than a simple bike route. We can do better and we can do it WITH Roberts Stadium...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2012/02/lets-dive-into-park-green-space-lake.html

4. The green space subcommittee claimed that we needed this park to fight obesity, yet we already have Wesselman Woods AND the State Hospital Grounds. Even with those two parks, our town is still obese. Any park that would go on the Roberts Stadium lot would contain the same things we already have at these two parks.

5. The green space subcommittee claimed that this would be a "Central Park." This couldn't be any further from the truth. There is nothing central about it. In 2001, we were given the plans for a central park. It was to be constructed from the Civic Center to North Main Street which would connect to Garvin Park. Garvin Park, originally known as the crown jewel of Evansville, has much more potential than any park on the Roberts Stadium lot yet has been forgotten by the green space subcommittee who only wants a new toy.

6. The subcommittee didn't give any examples of their plan and even admitted they didn't know. I'll give them a hint: Oklahoma City is doing this plan with their MAPS 3 program but their park compliments not competes with both Chesapeake Energy Arena (originally the Ford Center ironically) and the Cox Convention Center Arena. Their park includes an iconic skywalk over Interstate 40 but does not infringe upon OKC's sports facilities.

7. The green space subcommittee lacked all emotion for this plan. It's bad enough it made no sense financially but the marketing job for this plan was even worse. Given that one of their members decided to switch sides for no specific reason, this shouldn't come as a surprise. Do we really want to spend our cities money on a plan that lacks all emotion and financial logic?

8. This plan fails to put heads in beds. Unlike Roberts Stadium, this green space will not bring in guests and tourists to Evansville by the thousands who will stay in our hotels.

9. This plan creates no economic development. Roberts Stadium has helped Kipplee's, Turoni's, and Western Rib-Eye become what they are today. A green space simply will not bring in the economic development that Roberts Stadium will with events like the GLVC Tournament, the Hoosier Cup, and many, many expo events to name a few.

10. This plan fails to help existing parks. With Roberts Stadium, we will be helping and complimenting the Bosse Field district. We also have the potential to establish a small canal that will take visitors to the old Wabash & Erie Canal. The plan given to us by the green space subcommittee only talks about connecting to existing parks via a bike route. We MUST take care of our existing assets such as Roberts Stadium, Bosse Field, and the old Wabash & Erie Canal before we expand our parks system.

11. This plan isn't supported by the public. At our final public session with the task force, over 89% of the entire room that attended the Roberts Stadium tour looked upon the venue favorably. Of course, the green space subcommittee tried to down play this but that's the truth. No matter what the event has been, Roberts Stadium supporters are always close to 90% of the crowd. It's about time the green space subcommittee and supporters recognized this.

12. This plan WOULD COMPETE with our existing parks. No matter if it's labor, resources, or just attention from our residents, this green space would compete with our other parks who, unlike the Ford Center, are struggling. Why do we want to take away more resources from these parks?

13. This plan will NEVER make money. Not only will the maintenance be a heavy burden on the taxpayers and parks department, there will never be a source of income for this green space to make money. Again, this plan makes NO financial sense and really shouldn't even be considered given that Roberts Stadium is healthy and financially viable.

14. This plan is dangerous. Building a green space all the way up to Division Street will encourage wild life to run onto the Lloyd Expressway. We need a buffer zone between our nature preserve and the Lloyd Expressway. Those buffer zones are Roberts Stadium and a lake that should be constructed behind it.

15. This plan NEVER addressed the problem with a new growth park next to an old growth forest. We keep hearing the statement "let's expand Wesselman Woods." The problem is, Wesselman Woods is a nature preserve with 300 year old virgin trees. You cannot expand 300 year old virgin trees. If you plant new trees next to them, their seeds will jump into the nature preserve and over time destroy the ecology of the nature preserve. This was never discussed.

16. This plan hurts the most, helps the least. One of the green space subcommittee members described it as "something for everyone." This couldn't be further from the truth. All mid-sized events will be displaced under their plan while those who already have the State Hospital Grounds and Wesselman Woods will benefit. Less than 10% of those who attended the meetings will be satisfied.

17. This plan would not end the ball fields discussion. Many people want the ball fields plan at Wesselman Woods to be dead yet it continues to come back time after time. Building a green space and/or park would leave room for the ECVB to keep trying this lot. Is that really what we want?

18. This plan will be expensive. Not only will this plan fail to make any revenue year after year, it will also be expensive to construct much less maintain. Demolishing Roberts Stadium was estimated to be $1.25 million by the ECVB. This estimate doesn't include demolishing all of the parking lot and constructing an entirely new park.

19. This plan fails to create jobs. Outside of a park ranger here or there (which isn't a given), this park will not create any jobs outside of the basic Parks Dept maintenance crew. The lost SMG jobs will be gone forever.

20. This plan destroys a monument to Hank Roberts. Hank Roberts sacrificed his entire political career for Roberts Stadium. Do we really want to destroy our monument to him, which his family cherishes, for a park that is just like the rest?

Overall, I just don't see Mayor Winnecke's decision being a hard one although I believe it will be a big one. Mayor Winnecke now has a countless amount of reasons presented to him that explain why we SHOULD renovate Roberts Stadium into a mid-sized arena and why we SHOULDN'T demolish it in favor of a green space or park. The above 20 reasons for a mid-sized Roberts Stadium and against a green space/ park are just the tip of the iceberg for why Roberts Stadium makes so much more financial and emotional sense than a green space/park.

I now put all of my hard work, all of my faith, and all of the effort I have given for Roberts Stadium in the hands of Mayor Winnecke. I trust him, I respect him, and I eagerly await his decision. We all win with a mid-sized Roberts Stadium. We all lose with a green space or park.

MAYOR WINNECKE, MAKE ROBERTS STADIUM A MID-SIZED ARENA!

Thanks To The Ford Center We Now Have The Funding For Renovations



in.gov

Although the city naysayers predicted otherwise, it appears early on that the Ford Center is not only going to make money but will come in under budget for construction as well...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/mar/21/profitable-year-for-arena/

"The Ford Center, which was projected to have a first-year operating loss of $104,000, instead recorded a profit of $280,000 during the two months it was open last year, VenuWorks officials told members of the Evansville Redevelopment Commission Tuesday.

Also, Ford Center project manager John Kish said construction of the Downtown arena came in at up to $2.5 million under budget."

So what can we take from this?

- Building a new arena was a great idea
- Building the new arena downtown was an even better idea
- Venuworks and Ford Center director Scott Schoenike did an awesome job opening the Ford Center
- SMG and Venuworks did a great job working together to co-brand the Ford Center and the Centre
- We have extra funding left over

What can't we take from this?

- The idea that the Ford Center will always make money. With only 5 months in, it's way too early to tell how the Ford Center will fare once it gets broken in.
- The location for the Ford Center was a good idea. Usually, arenas need at least 8-9 acres to breathe. If I remember correctly, the Ford Center's lot is between 4-5 acres.
- The city built the right sized arena. The Ford Center is turning a profit even with 9-10,000 seats. Imagine the amount of revenue NCAA Tournament games would have brought to the city if we would have built bigger?
- We shouldn't invest in Roberts Stadium which would increase the Ford Center's profitability because it might compete somehow someway.

Of all the news we found out yesterday, the news that the Ford Center construction saved us $2.5 million is easily the biggest. Why should this $2.5 million be redirected to Roberts Stadium?

- Robert Stadium's renovations are projected to fall under $2.5 million.
- Renovating Roberts Stadium will bring in more tourists to Evansville which will bring in more guests for the Ford Center to sell tickets to as well.
- Reallocating these funds will allow the city to avoid having to tap into the Innkeepers or Casino Aztar funds which have already been tapped for boondoggle projects such as the ball fields at Wesselman Park plan.

Make no mistake, I don't believe these funds should be reallocated to Roberts Stadium until all fundraising options have been exhausted. I truly believe that selling naming rights to the gates, selling the 5-6,000 seats that would be removed from Roberts Stadium, and selling the old Ace's court would give us the vast majority of the funds we need to renovate Roberts Stadium. However, it is also logical and financially smart to reallocate the saved $2.5 million to finish off the renovations to Roberts Stadium.

Roberts Stadium is here to compliment, not compete, with the Ford Center. This legendary and iconic structure brings a lot of great things to the table for Venuworks and the Ford Center such as the following...

1. The ability to flex smaller events to Roberts to make room for larger events downtown
2. The ability to use Roberts Stadium as a shuttle stop for the Ford Center which will also make downtown Evansville less congested with automobiles.
3. The ability to cross-market the two facilities such as hanging a Home Show banner at Roberts this past week.
4. The ability to bring in more tourists and guests to Evansville to increase revenue for the Ford Center
5. The ability to stabilize the east side restaurants and retail as well as bring back the lost SMG jobs which will in turn create more jobs for those at the Ford Center.

I would like to express my congratulations and thanks to Venuworks and Mr. Scott Schoenike for the hard work they have put into the Ford Center. I also want to thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule last week to talk to me about Roberts Stadium.

Let's promote the Ford Center. Let's SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!

By Their Standards, We Already Have A Facility Competing With The Ford Center

waymarking.com

There are some things here in Evansville you just can't make up. If you thought you had seen it all with David Dunn and the ECVB refusing to build the ball fields next to Bosse Field only to sponsor the GLVC Tournament there this year, you still haven't seen it all until you hear this next story.

Since the beginning of the battle to save Roberts Stadium, city hall has given us two binding constraints...

1. Roberts Stadium must make financial sense

2. Roberts Stadium cannot compete with the Ford Center

The thing I find most disturbing about this is that we have watched politician after politician act like a mid-sized and older Roberts Stadium would compete with the Ford Center. If they realized how absurd the sports management community views our political leaders making statements like this, they would cease immediately.

Nonetheless, those have been the two rules we have had to work with since day 1. What strikes me as ironic, as well as flat out hypocritical, is that our city is already allowing both rules #1 and #2 to be broken by other facilities. In fact, we already have a facility breaking both of these rules, and it's located NEXT DOOR TO THE FORD CENTER.

What could this facility possibly be? It's our 13 year old Centre....

That's right, the Centre has lost over $7 million since it opened in 2003...

http://www.14news.com/story/15928906/the-centre-has-lost-7m-since-it-opened-in-99

And it has displayed this past week that it can compete with the Ford Center for events like the Home Show as both venues hosted this event simultaneously. So, should our city tear down the Centre? Is the Centre indeed competing with the Ford Center? Should we prevent the Centre from hosting events that can go in the Ford Center?

The answer to those three questions is no, absolutely not. You see, our city understands perfectly how to coordinate the Center and the Ford Center, yet they are baffled at letting Roberts Stadium do the same thing with the Ford Center for sporting events. The main question that needs to be asked is why?

(From the 14news.com article above)

"Meanwhile, the Ford Center is providing help for The Centre. Managers say they are already taking calls from parties wanting to book events using both buildings.

GM Stearns says, "We think in the long run with the two being this close together it going to be a benefit to both of us.""

I find it to be nothing short of mind boggling that our city leaders don't understand this concept with Roberts Stadium. After all, this isn't rocket science. What are some examples of this type of coordination?

1. We can flex the GLVC Tournament to Roberts Stadium where the economy of scale makes sense while freeing up that weekend for the Icemen at the Ford Center. This allows both events and both venues to maximize their facility, thus maximizing revenue.

2. We can flex all of the events at the Ford Center that require the curtains to come down over the upper level to Roberts Stadium. Why would we want to do this? 2 reasons: 1. Any event that doesn't need an upper level is going to want a mid-sized arena where they can afford the rent. Roberts Stadium fits this bill. 2. In talking with Venuworks who runs the Ford Center, they could easily fill these dates with premier concerts and events that would use the upper level. Like the GLVC Tournament, this would maximize revenues for both events.

3. We can flex the Home Show to Roberts Stadium so that the Icemen get another Saturday home game. Just like the GLVC Tournament, the economy of scale for the Home Show is much more aligned with Roberts Stadium than the combination of the Centre and the Ford Center. This would free up the Centre to go after bigger events (although we can't do this until our hotel is built) and it would give the Icemen another weekend home game which is worth an extra thousand or two people in the stands. Once more, coordinating all of our facilities maximizes our revenue.

4. We can coordinate the Ford Center's schedule with Roberts Stadium's schedule. Just like we did this past week with the Home Show, we can coordinate events between Roberts Stadium and the Ford Center. How can we do this? By offering shuttle rides from Roberts to the Ford Center (eliminates all complaints about parking), by making sure similar sporting events don't take place the same night (NBDL and Aces basketball), and by hosting college basketball tournaments using both facilities.

5. We can coordinate promotions and marketing between the two arenas. The more people we bring to town for an event at Roberts Stadium, the more people we have that will buy tickets to events at the Ford Center while they are in town. By cross-marketing and co-branding the two facilities, we will be increasing attendance at both facilities. For example, a fan who comes to watch the GLVC Tournament at Roberts Stadium would receive a discounted ticket offer to an Icemen game that weekend. The key to success for growing your city is to provide multiple entertainment events and a wide variety of events that are interconnected using all of your available venues.

Although both the Centre and the Ford Center have been the victim of our local naysayers, I don't think there's any question that both facilities have done a good job improving our city. The Centre has brought in over 175,000 people, which is almost 60,000 more than our cities population and it was done without a hotel, while the Ford Center has already proven that it is going to be a profitable venue that will bring in hundred of thousands of guests as well.

I feel very confident that SMG, led by Regional Vice President Sandie Aaron and Venuworks, led by Ford Center Director Scott Schoenike can successfully bring Roberts Stadium into the coordination patterns of our local venues. Both have proven they know how to run these type of facilities and both would do an excellent job with Roberts Stadium. The only question is will the city allow it?

Our city leaders understand that the Centre and the Ford Center don't compete because both are financially viable facilities serving different niche groups. It's about time they realized this with Roberts Stadium and the Ford Center!

We Already Had Most Of The Funds To Renovate Roberts Stadium

We're broke. That's the general consensus around town. What isn't a general consensus around town is how we got into a such a position. If you ask our city leaders, they will blame rising costs across all departments, the economy in general, and commitments to a wide variety of projects. While I don't doubt that those three problems are factors in our budget woes, I would like to suggest another problem- government incompetence and mismanagement.

As of right now, we're looking at needing to make the following renovations to Roberts Stadium...

* Raising the floor- Initial Estimate: $400,000-$500,000
* Fixing the roof over the newly added concourses- Initial Estimate: $50,000-$100,000
* Demolishing the precast concrete sections above street level- Initial Estimate: $85,000

With those three renovations, we are looking at needing $535,000-$685,000 to scale Roberts Stadium down to a mid-sized arena. Yes, there will probably be miscellaneous expenses such as widening the tunnel, constructing an entrance for vehicles to enter the main level concourse, and minor repairs to the HVAC and Central Plant systems such as a part here and there. This also doesn't include funds for turning the back lot into a green space. But for the time being, these are the only identified renovations and they will probably be the most expensive ones which gives us a good ballpark figure for what we are dealing with.

It is important to understand that these repairs will pay for themselves many times over. Depending on how we coordinate Roberts Stadium with the Ford Center, we are looking at well over 200 events a year. If the GLVC Tournament was brought back to Roberts Stadium, which is the correct decision as the Icemen need that Saturday to increase their attendance, its economic impact alone would pay for most of Roberts Stadium's annual expenses and maintenance (The teams alone bring $100,000 before fans are even considered).

Couple the GLVC Tournament with a NBDL team, USI preseason tournament games, mid-sized concerts, BMX tournaments, expo events, indoor football games, high school basketball tournaments, lacrosse games, in-line skating games, indoor soccer games, and anything else SMG or Venuworks can bring in and the revenue greatly outweighs the costs. Therefore, this investment is one that our city must make.

Given all of that, our city will now need to find funds to undertake these renovations. As with everything else involving Roberts Stadium, I believe that this step can be a simple one if our city leaders are willing to explore the proper sources of funding such as...

*Selling Naming Rights To The Gates- 5/3rd just agreed to pay $3.3 million for the Aces practice facility. At Roberts, they will get an entire gate to set up their marketing which will reach vastly more people than the practice facility. We have four gates and two main concourses to sell naming rights to. If we market these correctly, we will get the majority of our financing with this option.

*Sell The Old Aces Court- They did this in 1984 and it netted over $24,000. We need to cut the old court up into 1,600 pieces and sell them for $20 each. That would give us $32,000 which is roughly 1/2 to 1/3 of our roof expense.

*Sell The Seats That Will Be Removed- As of right now, we're looking at removing 5,000 to 6,000 seats inside Roberts Stadium during renovations. Most followers of this blog know that I am a strong supporter in the idea of giving these seats to the ECVB for their ball fields project instead of selling them on the open market. Either way, if we sell each seat for $30, we would net $150,000-$180,000. When David Dunn presented his plan for the ball fields, he estimated that it would cost $1.56 million for concession stands and bleachers. With these seats, the ECVB would save on construction costs and we would have roughly 1/3rd-1/4th of the funding needed to renovate Roberts Stadium.

There are many other fundraising options that I talked about earlier as well...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/07/lets-make-funding-personal.html

Although I believe there are plenty of avenues to explore to find funds to renovate Roberts Stadium, I do want to point out that if our government leaders would have put their faith in Roberts Stadium from day 1 (like I have) we wouldn't even be in this position. What am I talking about? I'm talking about the money we wasted on exploring the idea of building the ball fields on the lot which would have covered the vast majority of the needed renovations to Roberts Stadium.

In the very beginning, when the city/county wasn't even looking at intruding into the Roberts Stadium lot, they spent several hundred thousands of dollars...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jan/30/no-headline---30b01wesselman/

"At the request of the Convention & Visitors Bureau earlier this month, the Vanderburgh County Council approved spending $425,000 in innkeepers tax revenue to hire an architect to design the project, which was recommended by a consultant hired to study Evansville's sports facilities."

$425,000 would have covered...

- The vast majority of the expense to raise the floor

or

- Renovating Roberts Stadium's roof and demolishing the precast sections above street level twice

or

- Roughly 2/3rds of the costs for the three main renovations needed to scale Roberts Stadium down to a mid-sized arena.

If we couple the $425,000 with the $200,000 that Mayor Weinzapfel placed in this year's budget for Roberts Stadium, we would already have just about all of the funding needed to renovate the three main areas of Roberts Stadium.

Even worse is the fact that this estimate does not include...

1. The settlement money to former ECVB Director Marilee Fowler who wasn't suppose to announce that the ball fields were heading to Wesselman Park and eventually Roberts Stadium as well. These legal fees have been estimated to have been as high as $100,000

http://city-countyobserver.com/2011/02/11/is-it-true-part-2-february-11-2011-the-cost-of-bad-public-policy/

2. The additional sunk costs incurred on the ball fields project even though it has currently been cancelled. I didn't include these costs because they have not been accounted for just yet and will continue to be billed to our city/county/ECVB over the next few years until a final decision is made on the location of the ball fields.

3. The $3,000 bill the previous ECVB ran up at Biaggi's...

http://www.examiner.com/campaign-ads-in-evansville/evansville-convention-and-visitors-bureau-spends-over-3000-on-christmas-party-photo

4. The chartered flights the ECVB took to inspect other ball field projects...

http://city-countyobserver.com/2011/01/05/ecvb-board-spent-10205-on-5-christmas-feasts-charter-flight-to-inspect-ballfields-was-2542-90-for-5-travellers/

If we would have spent our money wisely, we would already have the funding we need to renovate Roberts Stadium AND we would already have the seats needed to construct our 8 ball fields at a location that actually has baseball history around it. The only reason why we don't is because our city leaders were unwilling to stop the ECVB or step back and give Roberts Stadium a moments thought.

I can honestly look any city leader in the eye and tell them that a renovated Roberts Stadium and a ball fields complex at Kleymeyer Park would reap millions upon millions of more economic revenue than the way their plan which consisted of nothing more than a bunch of expenses for a project that never happened and never made any sense at Wesselman Park.

So, if city hall is going to tell us that they don't have any funds for Roberts Stadium, they must also be willing to take the blame for blowing the funds on frivolous things like a failed ball fields proposal that the public never really got to have any say in. They also must be willing to take the blame for not investigating funding leads like the three above.

We can renovate Roberts Stadium, we can identify the proper funding, and we can put heads in beds by the thousands. All we need is for our local government to be willing to SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!

Another Article They Didn't Want You To Read Online- This One Effects Your Safety

The C&P is at it again. Remember the article they forgot to publish online in January?...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2012/01/letter-they-didnt-want-you-to-read.html

Well, it looks like they've done it again. Last week, we saw this article appear online...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/mar/09/no-headline---081/

At the same time, we did not see the article from Save Roberts Stadium supporter Berniece Tirmenstein talking about Roberts Stadium as a disaster relief area online. Coincidence? I'll let you decide.

Nonetheless, there were some very important things that Berniece brought up in her article. If you will remember, I talked about the need for Roberts Stadium to serve as a disaster relief area in an earlier post...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/04/sports-venues-are-there-for-cities-in.html

As we've seen in cities such as Joplin, MO and Harrisburg, IL, this is one issue that must be taken seriously. We must address our public safety issues. What are some basic facts you should know about Roberts Stadium as a disaster relief area?

1. This is an intangible benefit meaning it is not reason alone to save Roberts Stadium but it is certainly a major piece to the puzzle in keeping it around.

2. Roberts Stadium is large enough for a Red Cross/FEMA Mobile Command Center which would consist of an area to house victims on cots, an area for government leaders to organize relief efforts, and an area large enough to house trucks with supplies.

3. In a meeting with Mayor Winnecke back in November, Lloyd indicated that the Red Cross would be interested in having Roberts Stadium designated as a disaster relief area.

4. Using Roberts Stadium as a disaster relief area would allow us to maintain operations as close to normal as possible with our Ford Center and Centre.

5. Roberts Stadium is easily accessible from all sides of town and isn't too far from our local Red Cross headquarters at the corner of the Lloyd Expressway and Stockwell.

I would like to thank Berniece for writing her letter even though it only appeared in print and not online. We've watched tornado after tornado affect our community. We have no idea when the next earthquake is coming to Evansville, IN. And of course, there's always the chance of terrorism.

Whatever the disaster may be, we need to be prepared. We need to use Roberts Stadium as a disaster relief area!

It Is Financially & Fundamentally Irresponsible Not To Plan Bosse Field's Future

minorleagueballpaks.com

"The infrastructure that's been developed in this community is excellent. The problem is, we're the only ones that know. My job is going to be to get out there and promote this destination as a world-class destination."

Those were the words of ECVB Executive Director Bob Warren spoken at one of his first conferences in Evansville on June 2, 2011...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/jun/03/no-headline---03a0xecvb/

Fast forward to March 2012 and we've already gotten away from this goal. Many local residents, much less tourists and visitors, are familiar with the assets we have in Bosse Field and Roberts Stadium.  We've already talked about the history of Roberts Stadium which was built by architect Ralph Legeman who holds the patent for the fieldhouse design that has made Indiana High School Basketball the best in all of the land.

But did you know?...

- Bosse Field will turn 100 in 3 years
- Bosse Field is the third oldest active ballpark behind Wrigley Field and Fenway Park (Rickwood Field is the oldest ballpark but lacks a permanent tenant)
- Bosse Field was the site of the film, "A League of Their Own"
- Bosse Field is the first municipally owned athletic facility in Indiana
- Bosse Field has hosted many MLB greats such as Warren Spahn, Hank Greenberg,  and Kirk Gibson

Couple all of Bosse Field's history with Don Mattingly's youth baseball field in Garvin Park and you've got an excellent asset to market to tourists and visitors coming to Evansville. These tourists and visitors would also be right down Main Street from the Ford Center and I our soon to be built hotel. Isn't promotion of the Ford Center a key goal of our city?

I don't think there is a single person in this city, or county, that is glad that our government has taken so long to decide the future of Roberts Stadium. If we would have made plans to scale Roberts Stadium down to a mid-sized arena back when we knew the Ford Center was going to be constructed, we wouldn't be sitting here with a closed venue that has water pumps running 24/7.

But instead, we went off course when our city leaders quietly let the previous ECVB and David Dunn work on constructing ball fields on the lot instead of renovating Roberts Stadium. Mayor Weinzapfel couldn't have cared any less about Roberts Stadium and in the end, it is now costing us dearly.

Just like Roberts Stadium, Bosse Field's future is very quietly creeping up on us. The Otters are in the red...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/jul/02/more-than-a-night-at-the-ballpark/

The worst part about the Otters being in the red is that we can very easily do something about it yet we haven't.

- Have we revitalized the area around Bosse Field? No
- Have we made Bosse Field, Garvin Park, and Kleymeyer Park a priority? No
- Have we aggressively promoted Bosse Field? No

A few weeks ago, our ECVB did a wonderful job landing the 2012 GLVC Baseball Tournament which will be played at Bosse Field. The estimated economic impact is $800,000. While this is certainly a great start, we cannot stop there.

Given that Bosse Field is widely recognized as a baseball icon, why are we trying to build our ball fields project next to Wesselman Woods or out in the county? How can our city leaders look us in the face and tell us that there is no money to make Bosse Field the crown jewel of our region when they are wasting millions after millions on other projects that could help the area around Bosse Field instead?

Sooner or later, the downtown ballpark plan will come back (and rightfully so). At that time, our city leaders will wonder why we didn't plan Bosse Field's future. They will struggle and argue back and forth about what to do with it. They will wish that they had set the ground work for Bosse Field's future today.

So, what can we do to stabilize Bosse Field and the Otters?

1. Construct the ball fields at Kleymeyer Park- This will bring in an average of 40,000 out of town guests to this district. With foot traffic like this, we will now have the upper hand to work with private developers on building restaurants, shops, and other retail activities around the area. The revenue from these tourists is vital to rebuilding this district.

2. Design the ball fields to replicate vintage MLB ballparks.- Keep in mind, these ball fields are not going to be anything elaborate in terms of luxury boxes, upper level seats, and huge concourses like the real MLB ballparks. Rather, we would be putting up "faux" walls to make the fields look like various MLB ballparks, most notably Yankee Stadium where Don Mattingly played...

bigleaguedreams.com

Designing these fields in ,this manner is key for 2 reasons. The first reason is that it will attract visitors in our region. The cities who built Crosley Field, Sportsman's Park, Wrigley Field, and Tiger Stadium are all within a days drive of Evansville. This targets those regions specifically.

The next reason is that it ties the ball fields project in with Bosse Field and Garvin Park. In Garvin Park, we have Don Mattingly's youth baseball field. Constructing a replica of Yankee Stadium reinforces the Mattingly image into our ball fields project. Also, the vintage MLB ballpark designs reinforces the image of Bosse Field as the third oldest active ballpark. From there, we will need to clean up and redesign the area around Kleymeyer and Garvin Parks.

3. Host the championship games at Bosse Field- After the tournaments have dwindled down to two teams due to the elimination of other teams at ball fields that replicate Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Wrigley Field, Fenway Park, The Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, Crosley Field, and Sportman's Park, the final game of the tournament would be played at Bosse Field. This would be a huge marketing tool to girl's softball tournaments due to Bosse Field's history with the film "A League of Their Own."

The main reason why this decision must be made is because of the extra financial support it will give the Otters. The Otters play 48 home games a year. That leaves 42 open dates in the three summer months alone where they aren't generating any revenue off of Bosse Field. With these championship games, the Otters will be able to increase their ad revenue, increase their revenue from concession stand sales, and increase their ticket sales because the teams will be in town on days when there are Otters home games.

What are some other benefits to building at Kleymeyer?

1. We will be promoting the Ford Center and our soon to be built downtown hotel. Both of these attractions would be right down Main Street from our complex. In fact, city hall moved the Main Street archway to Garvin Park from the Ford Center because they want to establish a connection between the two sides of Main Street. We have been told over and over by our city officials that they want to promote the Ford Center and our soon to be built hotel. NOW is their opportunity to do just that.

2. We can land swap a few organizations. Ideally, EYFL should move their football games to the old North HS field because their current field is in a flood plain while North's is not and as a result is in a much better condition. We can also work with Bob Walther to move his driving range to Hamilton Golf Course. Although this isn't necessary, it would benefit both parties as we would be able to build our ball fields next to his Golf-N-Fun which would become an instant cash cow and would be in a prime spot to expand operations to include go-karts, bumper boats, and other miscellaneous entertainment events.

3. We will be stabilizing a district that desperately needs it. When is the last time our city took on a major capital improvement project on the north side? The last one I remember is Bosse Field which is 97 years old! Let's change that. The north side of town around Bosse Field desperately needs an economic shot in the arm. If they don't get it this time, when will they get it? The time to act is NOW!

4. We will still be two roads away from the east side. Like the Roberts Stadium lot, Kleymeyer Park is one road (Main St. or First Ave) and the Lloyd Expressway from being on the east side.

5. We can use the methane gas for electricity. Our city talks about how they want to be "green." Yet as they say this, methane gas is escaping Kleymeyer Park and going into our ozone. We can prevent this and we can make it financially beneficial to our ball fields project. Like so many ball field/ landfill projects across the country, the EPA can set up methane pumps that will convert this gas to electricity. Therefore, this NON TOXIC gas would be paying huge dividends to us by lowering our electric bill at the ball fields. This is a no-brainer!

How Can Roberts Stadium Help?

Roberts Stadium can help in two ways...

1. Directly- We can take the 5,000-6,000 seats that would be removed to scale the arena down to a mid-sized arena and install them in our ball fields project. If you will remember, in 1991 we took the old bleachers out of Roberts Stadium and put them in Mesker Amphitheatre. At other ball fields across the country, you have to sit on bleachers or the ground. With our ball fields, you can sit in seats that were taken directly from Roberts Stadium. This saves the ECVB money while making their guests happy. I don't think there's any question that this needs to be done.

2. Indirectly- Contrary to what some people think, it is beneficial to have multiple venues in your town. As each event brings in out of town guests, these guests want to do something around town when they are not at their event. If Evansville remains a one horse town, we will not be very attractive to tournaments. If we use the Ford Center and Roberts Stadium as attractions for guests to enjoy on non-game days, then we will move ahead of other cities as we bid. That is why Bosse Field needs to be involved in our ball fields project.

Like I said, sooner or later, the downtown ballpark plan will come back. At that time, our city is going to wonder why they didn't do something. They are going to wish that they had taken the steps to stabilize the Otters, stabilize Bosse Field, and stabilize the district around it. If we take the proper steps today with our ball fields project, a new downtown ballpark will have little to no effect on the Otters or Bosse Field.

Mr. Bob Warren is right, we can become a world-class destination if we market our current and existing assets. That has to start with Bosse Field and Roberts Stadium!

Let's Make Roberts Stadium Open Air

Ironically enough, we have the opportunity to modernize Roberts Stadium by once again going back to its past.

For those who don't follow sports architecture as close as I do, it is important to understand that new trends in sports architecture call for more "open air" spaces to be built in newly constructed stadiums, arenas, and ballparks. We are seeing this trend all across America whether it be an outside concourse at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia...


(lincolnfinancialfield.com)

An open air plaza inside the AT&T Center in San Antonio...


(AT&T Center's myspace)

Or an open air outfield walkway concourse inside Miller Park in Milwaukee...


(zackhample.mlblogs.com)

During discussions in my subcommittee, we were throwing out ideas on how we can make Roberts Stadium a mid-sized venue while creating space for expo events like car shows, boat shows, etc,etc. Previously, those who supported converting Roberts Stadium into an expo hall wanted to raise the floor up to ground level and remove all of the seats. However, there are many problems with this...

1. It would eliminate all mid-sized events due to the lack of seats
2. It would cut off the tunnel that connects Roberts' floor and loading docks
3. It would be more expensive to renovate than a mid-sized arena while bringing in fewer events

Although that idea will be one of the two proposals that will be given to the mayor, there is now a sentiment amongst my subcommittee that there is a better way to do this. Here is what we can do to keep Roberts Stadium as a mid-sized arena while creating more room for expo events at the same time.

1. Raise the floor above the water table. To do this we would have to go to the line where the temporary and permanent seats meet. We will also need to go 2-3 rows higher so that we create a floor that is large enough for Evansville Rage indoor football.

Before:

After:

2. This is where my description may get a little tricky to understand but I will try. All of the seats that you see that are either next to or above the entrance tunnels to each section are precast. That means that they can easily be demolished without any real harm to the building.

Basically, we are looking at making the entire concourse all the way around Roberts Stadium open air meaning that you could see the game while you are walking around the main level due to the tunnels and seats blocking your view being gone.

If you look at the picture below, in the future, everything you see on the left will be gone so that you can see the court/floor without anything obstructing your view...

From the floor, all of the above seats will be gone...

Before:

After:

There are some very important aspects of this idea to note:

1. The initial estimate from the architect who installed these precast sections in 1990-91 to remove them is $85,000.

2. Just like raising the floor, removing these sections will return Roberts Stadium back to how it looked before 1990-91. This will give the facility more of a Ralph Legeman fieldhouse look.

3. There will be plenty of room to reconstruct more concession stands and merchandise stands in the pocket corners of the arena.

4. Removing these sections will give us more room for expo events like car shows, boat shows, and home shows.

5. Removing these sections will have no effect on any other aspect of the arena such as the lower level seats, the skyboxe suites, and the underground tunnel.

6. Removing these sections will put us in the 5,000-6,000 seat capacity that we need to make Roberts Stadium a mid-sized arena.

7. We can take the seats that would be removed in these sections and give them to the ECVB for their ball fields project which belongs at Kleymeyer Park. This will save them a huge chunk of money and will give us a small amount of the Innkeepers Tax that we need to renovate Roberts Stadium.

Yes, Roberts Stadium would look drastically different if we removed these sections. Yes, fans would view Roberts Stadium in a whole new different way that what they have the past 20 years. However, I truly believe that removing these sections is the correct decision. I feel like removing these sections, as well as raising the floor above the water table, will give us a mid-sized Roberts Stadium that will last for many years to come. It will also give fans a better image of how Roberts Stadium looked back in the days of Hank Roberts and Ralph Legeman.

How are we going to save Roberts Stadium? BY MAKING IT OPEN AIR!

Do Green Space Supporters Even Care About Our Green Spaces?

Although you won't find them in large packs like you do those who support saving Roberts Stadium, every part of town still has them. They are the people who have been fooled into thinking that Roberts Stadium is beyond repair and have blindly supported the belief that the lot should be nothing but a green space.

A typical conversation with one of these people goes like this...

Do you have a cost estimate for your project?
No

Can you tell us how a green space would make money for the city?
No

Can you tell us how you would blend your new growth forest with Wesselman's old growth forest without destroying the nature preserve?
No

Can you tell us why its a good idea to saddle the Evansville Parks Dept with yet another green space/ park when they have admitted that they don't have the resources for our current parks and green spaces?
No

Would your green space be any different than the State Hospital Grounds?
No

Can you tell us why we should even remotely consider demolishing Roberts Stadium for a green space?
Well, it would look pretty.

I've always said the bureacrats who have led the charge to demolish Roberts Stadium have preyed upon the lazy and the dumb. They have targeted those types of people because they know they wouldn't get too far once the truth came out about Roberts Stadium. Unfortunately for them, the truth about Roberts Stadium is now out and their supporters are running for the hills.

Besides seeking the lazy and the dumb, those who want to knock this building down have sought the greedy as well. These people don't care about what Roberts Stadium means to the vast majority of residents living in Evansville, they don't about activities other groups would like to bring to Evansville, and they certainly aren't interested in designing their green space around Roberts Stadium. No, they have to have the whole lot.

Earlier, I talked about the state that our current parks are in...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/12/as-our-parks-crumble-demolition.html

I also talked about the lack of adequate funding our Parks Dept. is dealing with...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-call-to-stand-evansville-parks.html

Given the facts that our Parks Dept has no money and our parks are in shambles as is, it really begs the question...

Is A New Park On The Roberts Stadium Lot Allowed To Compete With Our Other Parks?

Our city leaders from the previous administration went head over heels to do everything they can to fight Roberts Stadium because they believe that it will compete with the Ford Center. Yet just this week, I talked to SMG AND Venuworks and NEITHER shared that theory. In fact, the main concern both had was the city getting in their way of successfully coordinating Roberts Stadium and the Ford Center's schedules.

At the same time our city leaders had Roberts Stadium-Ford Center Competition Paranoia, they did nothing, and I mean nothing, to protect our current existing parks. If they truly cared about improving our parks, there wouldn't even be a green space committee on our Roberts Stadium Task Force. This begs the following questions...

1. Why is the ECVB hellbent on building their ball fields on either the Roberts Stadium lot or out in the county when we have an existing park, Kleymeyer Park, that already has 3 ball fields, is a better location for baseball, and is in an area that desperately needs urban renewal?

2. Why do we have citizens walking around with renderings, drawings, and layouts of green space and parks on the Roberts Stadium lot, yet we have next to zero citizens doing this for our existing parks that need the attention the most? Some even claim they have support from various people in the Parks Dept- the same people who have told us there is no money to clean up our existing parks.

3.  Why do those who support putting a green space on the Roberts Stadium lot refuse to incorporate Roberts Stadium into their plan? After all, the back lot is over 150% the size of Roberts Stadium. There's no way the two could co-exist?

4. If our city is in such good shape that we can afford to put a green space and/or park on the Roberts Stadium lot, why did our city let the current parks fall into such disrepair that they became a hot topic during last year's mayoral race?

5. Even if a green space brings in enough donations and sponsors to keep it self-sustainable for the short term, why aren't we putting these funds towards fixing up parks like Garvin, Sunset, Vann, and Burdette? In fact, when are we ever going to address our current parks before we take on new capital improvement projects that consist of new parks and green spaces?

The bottom line is this, the vast majority of those who want nothing but a green space on the Roberts Stadium lot don't really care about our green spaces and parks. Rather, there's the potential for a new toy and they want to be the ones who get it. We've seen this time after time in our cities history...

- Our sewer system is crumbling? Who cares, we'll expand the city limits and put more sewer lines out in the county.

- We don't have enough funds to build our 2001 downtown master plan? Who cares, we'll expand Green River Road to the tune of $25 million.

- US 41 is a mess? Who cares, we'll build an entirely new interstate on the far east side.

- Can't afford to run our government without funds from Aztar? Who cares, we'll annex areas in the county and call it "expansion."

At some point in time, enough has to be enough. Before we take on any more urban sprawl, any more projects that don't compliment our existing assets, and any more government services, we need to address what we have first.

I've been saying it loud and clear, it does not have to be Roberts Stadium vs a green space. In fact, Roberts Stadium, if utilized correctly, will HELP existing green spaces as well as our other city assets. How is this possible?

1. Using the funds generated from a mid-sized Roberts Stadium, we can construct a green space, park, and lake in the back lot which can connect to Wesselman Woods and enhance the existing park space we already have...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2012/02/lets-dive-into-park-green-space-lake.html

2. We can take the seats that would be removed during renovations to Roberts Stadium and give them to the ECVB who would use them in their ball fields project at Kleymeyer Park. This would reduce the construction costs for the ball fields while enhancing an existing ball field park and the Ford Center which would be right down Main Street...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/for-evcb-city-hall-roberts-stadium-will.html

3. Roberts Stadium will draw tourists into town who will also purchase tickets to Ford Center events. I talked to Mr. Scott Schoenike, director of the Ford Center, about this this past week ( I talked to Sandie Aaron of SMG the previous week). Along as we coordinate this correctly (we shouldn't schedule similar events at the same time), we will be giving tourists a reason to come to Evansville as they will have multiple, not just one, thing to do while they are here. Guests could even park at Roberts Stadium and ride the shuttle bus down to the Ford Center.

4. Not only will renovating Roberts Stadium bring in an enormous amount of tourists via events like the GLVC Tournament, USI preseason tournaments, NBDL basketball, Evansville Rage indoor football, Evansville Crush Indoor Soccer & traveling tournaments like the Hoosier Cup, etc,etc, we will also be avoiding the vast majority of the Innkeepers Tax which would still be intact for the ball fields. Roberts Stadium will avoid the Innkeepers Tax for the most part, cheapen the construction costs of the ball fields, and bring in tourists who will fill the coffers of the Innkeepers Tax.

Over the next few months, we will truly see just how good our government really is. If we play this right, we will be...

1. Improving existing parks and green spaces
2. Utilizing minimal taxpayer dollars
3. Increasing the Innkeepers Tax and city revenue drastically
4. Improving all sides of town.

That is why the decision to keep Roberts Stadium is an easy one yet a big one at the same time. If our city leaders truly care about our city, they will say no another green space and YES to Kleymeyer Park and Roberts Stadium.