It Takes A Village To Raise An Arena

(nierocks.areavoices.com)

Over the course of the Roberts Stadium debate, many citizens have registered many different views on what to do with our legendary facility. Some of these residents have sent me emails as well detailing their opinion.

One of the opinions that has been expressed to me is that I should form a LLC, buy Roberts Stadium and its property, and run the facility without any government involvement. This sounds good at first glance but isn't doable for the following reasons...

1. City hall has maintained that the facility isn't for sale, thus forming a LLC isn't possible at this time.

2. City hall has not specified what they want to do with the property or what they are willing to do with the property, therefore, I have no power to implement any ideas I have formulated yet.

3. Most importantly, this facility belongs to the people of Evansville, not one LLC.

First of all, I want to note that I have received very friendly emails from those who have offered to sit down and "number crunch" projects with me to make this project work financially. They also want me to offer to run the facility so that government cannot demolish Roberts Stadium in the future or make bad decisions regarding its tenants.

To those residents, I would like to say thank you and I would be honored to run Roberts Stadium shall it be retained as a mid-sized facility. This post is not directed at those residents. I am fully committed to making Roberts Stadium function both structurally and economically. This can and will happen if our community is given a chance to put together a plan. Roberts Stadium does have a place in Evansville's economy, just ask the SMG workers that just got laid off.

This post is directed at those residents who have screamed, " My Money! My Money!" since the Roberts Stadium debate began even though they don't have a clue about Roberts Stadium's history much less what this building stands for! They aren't concerned about the community at all, just their own pocket books. They aren't interested in breaking even or having a facility generate revenue for the city. Rather, they are only interested in lining their own pockets.

Although I hated to see it, Roberts Stadium has been the focal point of every single local political debate. The main reason why I pressed local candidates is because I, as well as you, need to know what government officials stand with us and which officials don't. The sad truth is that Roberts Stadium's fate is currently in the hands of our local government. Therefore, we must make sure every single candidate gives us their opinion on Roberts Stadium. The 5 candidates on the right have given us a strong verbal commitment that they will give a good faith effort to save Roberts Stadium.

And although I felt like it was the correct decision to get all political candidates on record as either supporting or opposing Roberts Stadium, I do not feel like it has been the correct decision for some local residents to impose their political theories upon Roberts Stadium. Let's talk about the different political theories that have been imposed on Roberts Stadium.

On one side, we've had those who support the ideas of liberalism and most closely identify with the Democratic Party nationally. They believe that the government should run the majority of our economy, its size should be big, and its regulations should be lengthy. As a result, they think city hall should have full control of Roberts Stadium and shall not work with the private sector to keep the building going. They are completely against a sale of Roberts Stadium and believe that the ball fields decision was handled correctly as a government official leading the campaign.

On the other hand, we've had those who support the ideas of conservatism and most closely identify with the Republican Party or the Tea Party. They believe that the private sector should run the majority of our economy, government should be small, and there should be very little regulations. As a result, they want no tax dollars going towards Roberts Stadium period. They believe that Roberts Stadium should be sold to a private firm or demolished, whichever is cheaper.

Here in Evansville, conservatism dominates our local politics, while the Democratic Party controls the majority of our government offices. You can already see the mixed signals our town sends off. In Evansville, it is acceptable for a government project to cost a billion, or two, or five if the project is for schools, roads, or infrastructure that is needed as the result of unregulated urban sprawl. But if a city official suggests that our government should invest in our downtown, use regulation to control urban sprawl, or invest in our local facilities, the whole town goes crazy.

For the record, I have worked on both sides of the spectrum. I have worked for liberal and Democrat groups here and in Lexington, KY, and I've worked for conservative and Republican groups in Lexington, KY, Arlington, VA, and Seattle WA. After many jobs, many debates and lectures, and many projects, I have come to the conclusion that I don't believe in any theory. I find that the farther away these groups appear from each other, the closer they are. It is my firm belief that neither side has a monopoly on all of the answers to our problems.

Roberts Stadium is a perfect example of this. Back in 1954, Evansville Mayor Hank Roberts teamed up with local architect Ralph Legeman to build Roberts Stadium. Without this joint venture, we would not have our famed Roberts Stadium.

Mayor Hank Roberts could not say to Mr. Legeman, "Private businessman and entrepreneur, get out of the way. I am the leader of the government and we can do this alone." If Mayor Roberts would have taken this approach, Roberts Stadium would have never received its fieldhouse design that now defines Indiana basketball, nor would it have been able to address the needs of the private sector or the local economy. Ralph Legeman's talent was building and designing buildings so that they could be productive members of society. He hit a home run with Roberts Stadium.

On the flip side, Mr. Legeman could not say to Mayor Roberts, "Mayor get out of the way. I represent the private sector for this project and I don't need your help. I will design Roberts Stadium so that it profits me and me only." If Mr. Legeman would have taken this position, Roberts Stadium would have never gotten built as it would not have had the proper amount of political support that Mayor Roberts gathered for the arena, nor would it have received the proper amount of funding needed to construct a facility large enough to attract events that have benefited the entire community. Because of Mayor Roberts, Roberts Stadium was approved, funded, and built so that the entire Evansville community could reap the benefits of Roberts Stadium. He too hit a home run with Roberts Stadium.

It is important to understand that while both Mr. Legeman and Mr. Roberts are great people that we should strive to be like, neither would have been able to construct Roberts Stadium alone. We needed the talents of both the private and public sector to make the best decision for our community and that's what we got!

For those who are fans of MSNBC like I am, you've probably seen the following commercial put on by Rachel Maddow...




Except for the fact that Roberts Stadium is a local issue not a national issue, this commercial sums up our Roberts Stadium situation perfectly. Although my grandpa Hobert Cooper helped build Roberts Stadium, he cannot take sole ownership of being the one person who built this great venue. In fact, no one man, woman, or child can lay claim to Roberts Stadium as being theirs. You can't be the precinct, the town, the political party, or the organization that owns Roberts Stadium. Only the city of Evansville and Vanderburgh County united can lay claim to Roberts Stadium.

If we are going to be successful at saving Roberts Stadium, this is the most important thing our city needs to realize. I, myself, am just one person. I have ideas just like all of you do, but I cannot solve the Roberts Stadium by forming a LLC and taking on the project myself. That will never work. Roberts Stadium belongs to ALL OF US and all of us should have a say in what a renovated Roberts Stadium should look like.

In order to solve the Roberts Stadium situation as a whole, we need to form a well-rounded committee that can investigate different leads. The following are some of the questions I would like to see answered by a committee...

- What needs to be fixed at Roberts Stadium and what doesn't? We've seen enormous estimates drawn up to renovate Roberts Stadium as a premier arena, yet that isn't even the goal. We need one architect and one engineer on this committee to go room by room and tell us what are our immediate repairs.

- What sources of funding can we explore? I've compiled a list of fundraising ideas... http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/07/lets-make-funding-personal.html

What fundraising projects would interest this committee and what sources of public financing can we use for Roberts Stadium? We need one government official to give the green light or red light on different financing avenues.

- What feasible ideas are there for Roberts Stadium? We need to compile 3-4 ideas and listen to the entire public on which one is best. We also need to investigate any reasonable idea that a citizen gives us.

- What should we do with the area around Roberts Stadium? If we do indeed scale Roberts Stadium down to a 5-6,000 seat arena, we will not need 4,000 parking spots. We need multiple people to investigate multiple ideas for the area around Roberts Stadium for a 10-20 year master plan. For example, would a botanical garden work next to Roberts Stadium? What about rebuilding Hartke Pool into an indoor swimming pool, an outdoor swimming park, and an indoor water park resort? What about rewatering the old Wabash & Erie Canal?

- Is UE and/or USI willing to get involved? Would USI be interested in playing their home games at Roberts Stadium and use PAC Arena as a practice facility instead? We need one official from UE and one official from USI to tell us what they are willing to bring to the table.

- Are there any starving artists willing to work on the main level? Roberts Stadium's main level has the ability to tell the story of Jerry Sloan, Arad McCutchan, Larry Humes, the 1977 Aces, and so many other great Aces. We need local artists as well as university students on the committee as well.

- How can we work with the new arena to synchronize our events? Oklahoma City uses the fact that they have both the Ford Center (now Chesepeake Energy Center) and the Cox Convention Center Arena as leverage over other cities who only have one venue. We need one official from the Ford Center on our committee.

- Who will run and operate Roberts Stadium? We need to listen to our two operators SMG and Venuworks to see how we can get the Roberts Stadium staff back to work should we go with the mid-sized arena idea.

- Will the ball fields be a part of this project or not? If so, what location? Can we use the seats that would be removed from Roberts Stadium for our ball fields project? For this task, we need multiple city officials to report to the committee.

These are just a few of the many questions I would like to see a committee iron out. No one person can answer all of these questions. If we are going to truly reinvent Roberts Stadium, we need architects, engineers, city officials, residents, artists, and many, many other skilled professionals.

It is also important to understand that it takes a village to create a ball field complex as well. We saw this first hand when David Dunn and the ECVB thought their plan would get approval while using very little amount of ideas from the public. This turned out to be a mistake as the citizens of Evansville demanded the project be scratched since they didn't feel like they had a part in the project.

When I threw out the idea of building the ball fields at Kleymeyer Park, I received an enormous amount of emails with people who wanted to attach their ideas to the project such as what we should do with the area surrounding Bosse Field. These citizens need to be heard from, not ignored like before. We cannot let that happen again with our ball fields project or with our Roberts Stadium project.

Lastly, it is important to remember that our Roberts Stadium project CANNOT be about money. Yes, we need to draw up a plan that makes sense and is self-sustaining, but profit shall not be the main goal of reinventing Roberts Stadium. Once more, Rachel Maddow sums it up best...




This commercial is eerily in sync with our Roberts Stadium project. To me (and I hope you), Roberts Stadium represents all the glory of Evansville's past, all the glory of UE basketball, and all the greatness that Evansville could be while at the same time serving as a grand monument to the 1977 Ace's basketball team. When I look at Roberts Stadium, profit and money are the LAST THINGS that I think of.

Like I said earlier, I am not proposing that we draw up a plan for Roberts Stadium that is not feasible economically. That is not what I'm saying. What I am saying is that we need to respect Roberts Stadium for what it means to our community.

Like the Soldiers & Sailors Coliseum, Roberts Stadium may not be a cash cow going forward, yet both will continue to be productive members of society for our Evansville community. We have a National Register of Historic Places for a reason, and it's not profit. Yes, Roberts Stadium is not on that list (because of political reasons), but you ask anyone in town what Roberts Stadium means to them and you will see why we need to save it.

So while we see politician after politician grandstand about Roberts Stadium being a waste of money or a project that needs to turn a massive profit to be justifiable, just remember that Roberts Stadium is larger than these fools. If you look at those who were around when Roberts Stadium was built, you will notice that very few of them are recognized by citizens today. They have come and gone while Roberts Stadium still stands.

That is the main point of all points I've been making on this blog about Roberts Stadium. No one person, organization, government official, political theory, or business can claim to be the person or thing that represents Roberts Stadium. Roberts Stadium is larger than life and I myself cannot and shall not be the only person in charge of putting together a plan for Roberts Stadium.

It takes a village to raise an arena and that is just what we need to save our arena. Let's come together, form a committee, and work together as one community to SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!

(successsystemsnow.com)