(photo credit: Community-observer.com PLEASE support this great website!)Now that Mayor Weinzapfel has placed the fate of Roberts Stadium in the hands of the next mayor, it is important to know how the two candidates feel about Roberts Stadium. I have been working on this since last year and I would like to share with you the feedback I have gotten from both candidates.
Before I start, I do want to point out that BOTH candidates were gracious enough to give me a part of their time. Although I am endorsing Rick Davis and am putting all my efforts and support into helping him get elected, I do feel like both candidates should have an active voice in Evansville's government moving forward.
Lloyd Winnecke
I reached out to Commissioner Winnecke back in October of 2010. I wanted to make sure he heard my voice not just on Roberts Stadium but the ball fields plan as well which was front and center at that time.
Commissioner Winnecke was generous enough to meet with me on Friday October 29th, 2010. During this meeting, Commissioner Winnecke agreed that he liked the idea of designing the ball fields to replicate vintage MLB style fields at Kleymeyer Park but that he could not support it until he saw a financial plan for it.
He also expressed his concern about Roberts Stadium saying that he could not support keeping the stadium intact until someone came to him with a financial plan. I told Mr. Winnecke that only the city can either A. assemble a committee or B. hire a firm to study reusing Roberts Stadium, but that there are several leads worth looking into. At that meeting, Commissioner Winnecke stated that Roberts Stadium should probably be "a hole in the ground," and did not commit to assembling a committee or studying Roberts Stadium.
On November 8th, 2010, I emailed Commissioner Winnecke the following email...
Commissioner Winnecke,
This is Jordan Baer. How have you been? I appreciate you meeting with me the Friday before last. Since I spoke with you about saving Roberts Stadium & building the ballfield complex at Kleymeyer Park with a vintage MLB style ballfields, I have found several more important things I would like to share with you. First, there is indeed a company that already makes fields that replicate the exact same 8 fields that I am proposing http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/replica-fields
Also, that company, Big League Dreams Sports Parks, builds their parks at NO TAXPAYER EXPENSE! http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/corporate/park-development
If you feel more comfortable with keeping David Dunn on the project, I have a 3 step plan to move his plan to Kleymeyer and why it's better and cheaper http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2010/11/few-simple-changes-will-mean-world-of.html
On the Roberts Stadium issue, I have a well-known group that is willing to study saving Roberts Stadium which I talk about on my blog http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2010/11/there-is-group-willing-to-study-roberts.html . The study is estimated at $32,500 which I talk about on my blog of why this is important
I appreciate your time,
Jordan Baer
On November 12th, 2010, I received this email response from Commissioner Winnecke (One line in this email has been bolded by me to show you the main point of this email. It was not bolded by Commissioner Winnecke)...
Jordan,
Sorry for the delay in responding, but it's been a crazy week.
I appreciate your update.
I'm reasonably confident that the softball project will be back burnered for a while. I am personally interested to know how some of the city's other parks and recreational needs can be met in a future discussion of ball fields.
As I previously mentioned, I don't believe the city can, or should, "save" Roberts Stadium. Additionally, given the events of the last two days, the future of Roberts is now an issue for city government and not county. I urge you to reach out to members of the City Council, and of course the mayor, to express your continued concerns over Roberts Stadium.
I appreciate your input. Have a good weekend.
Lloyd
Once more, I was unsuccessful in convincing Commissioner Winnecke to join the Save Roberts Stadium movement or push to have the ball fields constructed at Kleymeyer Park.
The main thing that surprises me with Commissioner Winnecke is that he is now calling for a committee to be assembled to study Roberts Stadium...
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/feb/24/roberts-stadium-task-force-needed-says-evansville/?print=1
I have been in complete shock since the day I read this. Why is Commissioner Winnecke now calling for a committee? Was it because he had a genuine change of heart? Or, is it because the ball fields plan is now dead and it is politically safe to study Roberts Stadium? How genuine and serious is Commissioner Winnecke about a committee? Will his committee just be assembled in order to give Roberts Stadium it's 15 minutes before ultimately rejecting all ideas and demolishing it? Or, will this committee be allowed to go to all ends of the earth to compose a plan for Roberts Stadium that does what it needs to do: Save our historic 55 year old arena?
Only Commissioner Winnecke knows the answer to those questions, but needless to say, I'm still very nervous about the possibility of Roberts Stadium's fate being in the hands of a Winnecke administration.
Rick Davis
The first time I met Mr. Rick Davis was back in December when he was a guest on the show Newsmakers where I am a volunteer cameraman. Rick has been friendly, a class act, and a true supporter of Roberts Stadium since day 1. Here is the video from that episode of Newsmakers. If you go to the 13:45 mark you will hear Rick's vision for Roberts Stadium...
http://video.wnin.org/video/1681067634
On that day, Rick Davis became the first person to support the Save Roberts Stadium movement. To commemorate this great milestone, I made a post on this blog about Rick's support for Roberts Stadium. On December 26th, 2010, I received this email from Mr. Rick Davis...
"Dear Jordan: Wow. I just read your blog! I'm very humbled. I really
appreciate the kind words you have shared with the Facebook and blogosphere
worlds. I don't know if you knew this or not, but my first gig out of college
(actually, when I was still in high school) was as a sportswriter. I covered 90%
high school sports, but I had my occasional UK, U of L, and IU football and/or
basketball game. I even covered a couple of Colts games back when Jeff George
and Eric Dickerson were on the team (in other words, the WORST years to be a
Colts fan). I wish you well with your sports management career.
Getting back to Roberts, I have always said it's a good thing Michelangelo wasn't from Evansville. We have a very bad habit of tearing down beautiful, paid off
buildings. "Sistine Chapel, oh, it's old, tear it down and put in a parking
garage. St. Peter's Basilica, oh, it's old, tear it down, put in a pawn shop."
Now, don't get me wrong ... Roberts isn't the Sistine Chapel. But there is value
there. And tearing it down would be doing away with millions of dollars worth of
taxpayer funded materials; as well as priceless memories. Have a wonderful week,
and Happy New Year! Rick. "
Rick didn't stop there. Earlier this year, he placed a sticker on ALL of his flyers with this blogs URL on it and the message "Reinvent Roberts."
During committee meetings for his campaign and during town hall meetings for the public, Mr. Rick Davis has also let the people of Evansville know that...
1. He supports building the fields at Kleymeyer Park.
2. He likes the idea of replicating the fields to look like vintage MLB ballparks best.
3. When he is elected mayor, he will make cleaning up the parks his top priority and he will START with Garvin and Kleymeyer Parks.
While I hope that you will give both candidates a thorough amount of research before you go to the polls, I also hope you will consider the fate of not only Roberts Stadium but the Kleymeyer and Garvin Park district as well.
If you are looking for a candidate who will make sure our town respects Roberts Stadium and its 55 years of history by listening to the people, Rick Davis is your man.
If you are looking for a candidate who will finally give Kleymeyer & Garvin Parks their due, Rick Davis is your man.
And if you are looking for a candidate who will stop at nothing to SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM, Rick Davis is your man.
(photo credit: andypalumbo.blogspot.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment