A Follow-Up To My Article In The C&P Today

(photo credit: Evansville Courier & Press)

Once again, I am very blessed to have been published in the Evansville Courier & Press today. While I certainly don't agree on their editorials dealing with Roberts Stadium and I-69, I am a HUGE fan of the C&P and love reading it every single day.

For those of you who have lived outside of Evansville like I have, you know how blessed and privileged we are to have the Evansville Courier & Press (as well as the City-County Observer). According to their website, they plan on unveiling a new look Tuesday which they say will make the site look better. I eagerly await this unveiling as I don't know how you can make the C&P any better.

I am truly grateful to the C&P for allowing me to post in their comments section for free, express my freedom of speech in their opinion section for free, and communicate news stories about Roberts Stadium to the Evansville region for free via the C&P. I hope that you the viewers of this blog will be encouraged to follow my article up with one of your pro-Roberts Stadium articles to the C&P. It's pretty simple, just type up a letter and email it to viewpoint@courierpress.com.

First of all, here is the article I wrote that is in today's C&P...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/jun/19/roberts-stadium-deserves-judgment-from-fair/

Now that the article has been published, a few opponents of saving Roberts Stadium have expressed their concerns and opinions about my ideas of saving Roberts Stadium and building the ball fields at Kleymeyer Park. I would like to respond to these posts...

"the new arena was built as a replacement facility for roberts stadium. why would we put any money into it to handle smaller trade shows, sporting events, and tournaments? the new arena was designed so that the top tier of seats can be curtained off so it turns into a smaller venue for just that purpose.

we certainly don't need a committee to tell us that roberts stadium is a money pit that serves no useful purpose. there is nothing the existing building or a remodeled one can do that the new arena can't. the building should be razed and the land should be returned to park use."

-- Della

The new arena was built as a replacement facility for Roberts Stadium as a PREMIER ARENA not as a MID-SIZE ARENA. This means that instead of renovating Roberts Stadium to give it a stronger roof, more club seats, suites, party rooms, and updated electronics, we decided to build a new arena downtown instead. I have agreed with this decision since day 1.

The problem is, the new arena will not be hosting mid-sized concerts, indoor semi-professional teams outside of the Icemen, high school basketball, medium sized trade shows, or youth soccer & basketball. Remember the Bluecats? They folded because their lease was too high with the city. We have the opportunity to fix that now.

Simply raising the curtains on the upper level will not change the fact that the new arena is going to be too expensive for these events. The investor I have who can supply all of these events has told me numerous times there is no way he is going to be able to go into the new arena. Not to mention, city hall has told me numerous times as well that we cannot do minor league basketball at the new arena because there are not enough open dates. Therefore, if we demolish Roberts Stadium, we will be passing on all of these events, not moving them downtown.

Also, how much will it cost to demolish Roberts Stadium, construct something new on the site, and then maintain it? If that option were cheaper or better, city hall would done have a plan on the board but they don't. Talk about a money pit!

He slams the current admin for not getting public support behind the new arena. He then praises Hank Roberts for sacrificing his career building Roberts. Is it possible the mayor is right like Hank Roberts was back in the 50's?
Roberts is finished. Only a baseball complex or a tourist attraction will work at that site. Otherwise it will be an eyesore and we will wonder why it wasn't torn down.

-- bigredmachine

There are many differences in the Hank Roberts administration and the current one. The obvious main difference is the fact that Hank Roberts did not demolish the Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Coliseum. He proposed that it be an annex to the old courthouse. He did not rush to demolish it once Roberts Stadium went under construction.

I do feel like the current administration did handle the arena situation correctly at the start. They held public forums and brought in the architectural firm Populous which is the best of the best in the world of sports architecture. They even refused to be jaded by the "sewers before stadiums" movement which was nothing more than a political dog and pony show that completely ignored the fact that we just spent $25 million to widen Green River Road which will cause us to have to expand our sewer system over time.

After that, things then went a little south. I don't blame the current administration for the D-Patrick mess. I blame that solely on the car dealer who passed on several million dollars just because they thought they would get a little more money (which they didn't). However, once the current administration committed to building an arena that only seats 10,000-11,000 fans, required the demolition of half of the Big E and then all of the Big E, and then refused to fuse Roberts Stadium and the new arena together so that events such as the Jehovah Witness' Convention and the Tri-State Home Show could stay at Roberts Stadium. it all went down hill. Those events are better suited for Roberts Stadium while professional hockey, Aces basketball, premier concerts, and large conventions are better suited for the new arena. When Hank Roberts built Roberts Stadium he built it as big as he could for a 1950's arena in order to put Evansville on the map not construct a smaller venue than the Coliseum.

Also, the ball fields complex is the project that will become an eyesore. Did you ever see close up renderings of what the ball fields would look like? That's because they were dull, boring, and ordinary. That's not what we need on the land.

"The best location for a baseball complex is the Roberts stadium site. No other ball complex in the Midwest would have a skating rink, nature preserve, swimming complex, golf course, playground, and shopping and restaurants within walking distance or a short drive. For some reason people do not get this or they think 10 year olds and their parents will be drinking beer in the parking lots. Evansville will miss a golden opportunity to be "The Place for baseball/softball". Building somewhere else will make it just another baseball complex. A group that is objective about what is best for Evansville should make the decision."

-- bigredmachine

No, no, no, and no! The best location for the ball fields is still Kleymeyer Park which sits across Pigeon Creek from historic Bosse Field and Garvin Park. On that site, we can build 8 ball fields that will represent vintage Major League Baseball fields such as Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park, Tiger Stadium, the Polo Grounds, Ebbets Field, Crosley Field, Sportsman's Park, and Wrigley Field. Want to know what they would look like?....

http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/replica-fields

Don't you think those fields would look a lot better than Dunn's?

That company also does theirs taxpayer free...

http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/corporate/park-development

The championship game for girl's softball tournaments could be played at historic Bosse Field, the site of the movie A League of Their Own. We cannot replicate baseball's Golden Age at Wesselman Park.

In regards to the location, how in the world is Roberts Stadium next to ANY retail other than Kipplee's? That is the whole problem with the site, it is landlocked. If you want to go to all the development on the east side from Roberts Stadium how would you go? Answer, you would take one road and then the Lloyd Expressway. If you are going from Kleymeyer Park to that same area how would you go? Answer, you would take one road and then the Lloyd Expressway. SAME THING.

What makes the Kleymeyer Park site much better for business is the fact that we have a golden opportunity to rebuild the north side of Evansville with these parks. If we build these parks at Kleymeyer, we will put First Avenue, Diamond Avenue, and Main Street in an excellent position to grow. What would be the closest hotel to Kleymeyer Park? Answer, our taxpayer funded downtown arena and convention hotel. Shouldn't that hotel be our priority?

Lastly, Kleymeyer Park and Garvin Park have putt-putt, swimming, the Greenway, basketball courts, a driving range, canoing, and a playground. That is what youth sports tournaments need.

Like I said in the post "Where Is Roberts Stadium's Due Process?," I will match up my design and location for the ball fields up against any plan that city hall has drawn up any time, any place, any where. I will also do the same for my plan to raise Roberts Stadium's floor.

If those who support demolition of Roberts Stadium firmly believe in their ideas then why don't they match them up against ours on a committee? The truth is, no one in the Wesselman Park area wants Roberts Stadium demolished, while just about everyone would welcome the ball fields at Kleymeyer Park.

Let's do the right thing, BUILD THE BALL FIELDS AT KLEYMEYER PARK, and SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!