How Low Can The EVCB Go?

Today, the EVCB announced they had cut $4.5 million from the proposed ball field project that they want to occupy the land that Roberts Stadium currently sits on. Although $4.5 million has been cut, the plan still calls for Roberts Stadium to be demolished.

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/nov/23/evansville-visitors-bureau-reduces-ball-fields-bud/
I honestly didn't think this plan could get any worse until today. The amazing thing about the cuts is that only the good parts of this project are being cut and some of the cuts aren't really cuts. This project has hit an all-time low!

One of the main parts that actually will be cut is the removal of the back parking lot east of Roberts Stadium. This, quite frankly, is the only part of land on the lot that needs to go. It needs to be returned to nature with Roberts Stadium (which would be a botanical garden, an indoor rec center, or indoor water park) serving as the buffer between Wesselman Woods and the city. Earlier this week, the Courier & Press said one of the reasons they like this project is because it has a great buffer zone. Well, now the parking lot is still going to go all the way up the woods on the eastern side. Do they still support this project?

According to the C&P...

Dunn also said Convention & Visitors Bureau is looking at postponing the construction of shelter houses, picnic tables and other structures that were proposed under the original ball-fields plan. Dunn said the delay will let the bureau concentrate on building the eight fields themselves.

At this point, why does anyone believe building 8 basic fields with few amenities is a good idea anymore? The thing that amazes me about this project is that I have shown the mayor in person and emailed the EVCB's website a copy of this link (http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/corporate/park-development) which states clear as day that this organization builds their ball fields with no taxpayer money, not even for maintenance. Not only that, they build replica fields of vintage MLB ballparks that would give us a competitive advantage. All they need to do is make a simple phone call to Big League Dreams Sports Parks. That is what we need to do, not build a dull and bland sports complex that has nothing special about it except its price tag.

Dunn then said...

“We cannot sacrifice the quality of the playing surface,” he said. “We refuse to do that.”

What quality playing surface? Dunn said at the last County Council presentation that they decided to pass on the specialized turf because it cost several million dollars which was out of their budget. These fields are bland and dull and they will give visitors few reasons to visit them. If Dunn's fields looked like these http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/replica-fields I would understand why he didn't want to cut costs but they don't.

Even worse, this project really doesn't cut the full $4.5 million from the budget, it just does some accounting tricks with the $1.5 million Roberts Stadium demolition cost...

Dunn said the visitors bureau’s new budget assumes that the city will pay for the demolition of Roberts Stadium, which is estimated to cost $1.5 million. Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel said last week that the city would look to pay for that expense out of its 2012 budget, possibly by using Casino Aztar as the revenue source.

To me, this is absolutely, positively unbelievable. The mayor and the EVCB will stop at nothing to knock Roberts Stadium down. If the mayor worked on saving Roberts Stadium as much as he worked on finding funding for its demise, we'd probably have a Taj Mahal out there. The purpose of the Casino Aztar revenue is to improve the city, not destroy it. We need to treat that money with extreme caution. It's the only money we have that will make a significant dent on our tourism and quality of life problem.

The Casino Aztar money should be used for projects like a new downtown ballpark, redigging the Wabash & Erie Canal, and building on the riverfront; not demolishing Roberts Stadium. Oklahoma City turned their city around with their development money (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metropolitan_Area_Projects) , Evansville needs to do the same.

If the Vanderburgh County Council is genuinely concerned about the amount of funds this project would take from the Innkeepers Tax, than shouldn't they be concerned that voting yes for this project will mean $13 million PLUS $1.5 million from another tax base?

Lastly, the mayor reiterated why he wants Roberts Stadium demolished...

Weinzapfel reasoned that the cost of keeping Roberts standing but unused — which is estimated to top $300,000 a year — would exceed the cost of demolition after the passage of six years.

Again, why just mothball it and not put the Home Show there where it would have plenty of room to put booths outside (not to mention other small events)? Why not conduct the study for $32,500 to see what possibilities there are for Roberts Stadium? Why not host a forum to discuss Roberts Stadium reuse options (there are 9 on this blog alone) instead of just proclaiming Roberts Stadium useless without any basis for that assertion? Is this really enough reasoning to waste $1.5 million from the Casino Aztar funds?

Just when you think this project has hit rock bottom, a new detail comes out that makes it even worse. How Low Can The EVCB Go?