Since the announcement came out this week from David Dunn, Joe Vezzoso, and the ECVB that they are now considering three to four new locations for the ball field's project that are ALL outside of the Evansville city limits ( http://www.14wfie.com/story/13583591/sports-complex-will-not-be-built-on-wesselman-parkroberts-stadium-property ), I have sat here in shock and awe (like I did when I first heard they wanted to demolish Roberts Stadium) at why they would consider doing that.
It just blows my mind why Dunn and Co. think building this complex outside of the Evansville city limits is a good idea. It brings up so many questions...
- Didn't Dunn just say that tourists want to be next to hotels, restaurants, malls, an urban setting, the community, etc, etc?
Slide 10: ( http://www.theparkevansville.com/downloads/files/09-15-2010_Evansville_Parks_and_Recreation_Board_Presentation.pdf )
- Why would Evansville residents be behind this project if it's not in their city limits?
- How could a location outside of the city limits bring in significant revenue to the city to justify the costs?
- Why would baseball and softball tournaments choose Evansville over any other city if it's fields don't have any urban proximity advantages over the other ball field complexes?
- Why would you consider these locations and not Kleymeyer Park for which I have provided an enormous amount of reasons for it to be considered?
I could go on and on about why it's a bad idea to put these fields outside the Evansville city limits just like I did when I first said it was a terrible idea to demolish Roberts Stadium and build these ball fields at Wesselman Park. However, the main thing I really want to know is: Why does Dunn and Co. keep picking bad location after bad location when there is a GREAT location at Kleymeyer Park?
To get this answer, we need to dig a little bit under the surface to find the true reason.
First, although we don't know all the exact locations of the new areas under consideration, we do know that EVCB Board Member Joe Vezzoso said this in the Channel 14 WFIE article...
Vezzoso would not identify what those other locations are, but he says they were sites his group looked at in the past, before setting on the Wesselman Park and Roberts Stadium site.
Given that piece of information, we do know that Hamilton Golf Course and the Goebel Soccer Complex were both under consideration.
Hamilton Golf Course
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2008/jun/04/hamilton-tees-off-course-open-again-but-still/
A consultant hired by the county recommended last year that about 43 acres of the Hamilton Golf Course be converted into recreational facilities and soccer fields.
Don Schumacher & Associates Inc., a Cincinnati-based sports marketing, management and consulting company, recommended converting the nine-hole Red Course along both sides of Pigeon Creek into a recreational area. Others have said nine holes at the golf course could be leased to the Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau for development of the softball and baseball complex that the bureau tried unsuccessfully to build at Wesselman Park.
Note: It was Schumacher who recommended the Roberts Stadium site to the ECVB
http://www.continentalcapitalcorp.com/business-news/evansville-visitors-bureau-board-rebuts-directors-statement
Vezzoso said the bureau’s board has long wanted to put the fields near Wesselman Park and Roberts Stadium. But members had to hold off from giving weight to that option until they knew where the new arena would be, he said.
The location was suggested by Don Schumacher & Associates, a consultant hired to study the county’s sports venues.
Goebel Soccer Complex
http://www.continentalcapitalcorp.com/business-news/evansville-visitors-bureau-board-rebuts-directors-statement
The company’s (Don Schumacher & Associates) other recommendations called for doubling the number of soccer fields at Goebel Soccer Complex from 10 to 20 and adding to the number of tennis courts at Wesselman Park.
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:VsmpT-WsbZYJ:www.evansvillegov.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx%3Fdocumentid%3D8275+kleymeyer+park+dump&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESigokCOXOpRgIpRcgeYQjVHyV0fSn_o_ckk5aSxAWN2GiETQsf5oOzxAlfQjYzzjyJAkmY0crzAbHhnZVxM-bI1MRWauHgWuPpP0hjyyddyaBu533joy3QKIm3L-ApuVKdo7wW6&sig=AHIEtbQqaWJ8KQq7J_jH7oQxS3R84aZt8A
Pages 12
Ms. Crosley asked Mr. Dunn what would be the second choice of location.
He stated that they would have to go out into the county and would begin probably looking around the Goebel Complex. There were a couple of sites that they had explored.
Ms. Crosley asked if being by the Goebel Complex would mean that they could coordinate with Goebel for parking and concessions and that type of thing.
Mr. Dunn stated that he assumed that would be possible. In their design, the concessions were in the center of each of the pods. The guests at their complex would have to walk over to the Goebel complex.
If you read on to page 13 of that document, you will notice that Dunn said he considered eight total locations. He also said he only considered Kleymeyer Park briefly because of the conditions from the dump ( which I talk about these conditions being an asset not a liability in this post: http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2010/11/red-rover-red-rover-please-send-epa-on.html
So of all the eight locations under consideration as well as others nominated and/or recommended, why was Roberts Stadium his first choice, Goebel Soccer Complex his second choice, and the Hamilton Golf Course being presumably in his 3-4 new locations outside of Evansville?
For those of you who don't know, David Dunn is a part owner in his family owned business Dunn Hospitality which manages and operates several Evansville hotels as well as others across the region. The main reason that he is involved in this project is to make sure the hotel industry gets the greatest benefit from any project that uses the innkeepers tax that is taken from guests who stay at their hotels.
http://www.dunnhospitality.com/index.php
If you take a look at the hotel locations in their business (http://www.dunnhospitality.com/ourproperties.php), you will notice that there are three hotels out by I-164/Lloyd Expressway and one on South Green River Road. Furthermore, Dunn Hospitality recently took over a hotel on U.S 41 ( http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/oct/06/dun-hospitailty-announces-plans-airport-hotel/ ).
Surprise, Surprise, all three locations for the ball fields are either on the eastside or on U.S 41. No location on the westside or on the northside by Kleymeyer Park made Dunn's final cut down to two despite the fact that both of these areas have restaurants, shopping centers, hotels, parks, recreational activities, and desperately need the project as a stimulus program more than the east side.
It seems pretty obvious to me, the Roberts Stadium lot is the closest to Dunn's Green River hotel and I-64/Lloyd Expressway hotels. Thus, it was chosen as the first location going forward. After that, the Goebel Soccer Complex is the closest to these four hotels on the eastside. Yes, it is out in the rural northeast side of Vanderburgh County, but if a tourist from the complex is going to stay the night here the quickest and/or simplest routes to take are to go Green River Road to I-164 via Lynch Road to the Lloyd Expressway, go straight down Green River Road to Dunn's hotel, or take Green River Road to the Lloyd Expressway east bound.
Then, if those two destinations don't work out, there's always Hamilton Golf Course. Hamilton Golf Course, which is run by the Evansville Airport ( the same group that owns the land Dunn's U.S 41 hotel sits on), is literally right across the road from Dunn's U.S 41 hotel. Not to mention, it's not that much farther from Goebel Soccer Complex.
To pile on all of this, there was a study conducted for an indoor water park resort to go inside of Roberts Stadium yet the plan is all but dead currently. There was nothing in the study that said it wouldn't work here. Here is the study if you want to take a look yourself...
Go to page 134: http://www.evansvillearenaproject.com/downloads/consultant_report.pdf
So, what was the final recommendation (which wasn't inside this particular report) and why wasn't it investigated?
I don't believe David Dunn is a bad guy, I just think his plan is bad and I want to fix it by saving Roberts Stadium and building eight vintage MLB fields at Kleymeyer Park. While I'm glad that he has stepped forward to attempt to put together a plan (we need more people like that), I believe it is important that we get a second opinion from someone who wouldn't be biased towards placing the project within a road or two of their own hotels and doesn't have a hotel that would be a competitor of the proposed indoor water park resort.
If we are going to spend several million dollars on this project, we HAVE TO HAVE an unbiased director who is willing to give a good faith effort to study possible reuse options for Roberts Stadium first and foremost before considering demolition. The director MUST also consider other alternative locations for the ball fields that are around Evansville and inside the city limits and are best for the project itself, not just a particular hotel company.
There needs to be a public comment period where EVERYONE'S ideas are given fair consideration for REUSING Roberts Stadium, not just those who want to demolish it and build the ball fields at Wesselman Park simply because it's the best location next to their business. In my opinion, that would garner much more support than the way the current plan is being handled.
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