Oh The Irony! Even The Dogs Have Benefited From Roberts Stadium!

We've seen so many double standards, half-truths, and ironic situations that this next story should come as a surprise to no one. But indeed, there appears to be yet another ironic situation about the destruction of Roberts Stadium in favor of One Term Winnecke's dog park. It turns out, over 45 years ago, there was already an event for dogs and it was INSIDE Roberts Stadium...

http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=995444

That's right, back on October 16th of 1967, there was a dog show inside the four walls of Roberts Stadium, and it accomplished everything Winnecke has said he wanted to accomplish on the site today. For example...

Was it something for everyone?

" There were short people, fat people, beautiful people, rich people, and eccentric people..."

Did it bring in tourists who put heads in beds?

" Owners and trainers drove from around the Midwest to enter their canine beauties."

Was it a good draw?

"Every kind of dog except the tattered, briar-and-tick-infested hound dog from down on the farm was there."

We were told by Winnecke himself that he wanted to craft a plan that was something for everyone (yea right!). Yet, the plan he has crafted is 180 degrees from this goal. Not only are mid-sized teams, events, and shows such as minor league soccer, minor league basketball, indoor football, trade shows, USI preseason and postseason basketball tournaments, and many other functions being left out in the cold, even the green space supporters who made away like bandits in all of this got the short end of the stick with Winnecke's plan.

Because of the actions of Lloyd Winnecke and the Parks Department, we will no longer have an affordable venue to host competitive, regional, and maybe even national dog shows. We will also no longer have the opportunity to establish an indoor trail hub for the greenway where residents can walk their dogs when the weather outside is busy. Sure, they will be able to walk them through the newly proposed dog park (if it's built) but it will be nothing new or different from the State Hospital Grounds and/or Kleymeyer Park, nor will it put heads in beds or fill up revenue generating seats.

Next time someone asks you "Who let the dogs out?" you will now know the answer- It's Lloyd Winnecke. Not only did he let them out, he also left them out of the chance to compete!