(stadiumjourney.com)This past month, I have been blessed to have been selected to be the Ohio Valley Correspondent for the website StadiumJourney.com. As a correspondent, I will be visiting ballparks, arenas, and stadiums in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. I will analyze each sports venue inside, outside, and all around the neighborhood to give other sports fans an idea of what to expect when they decide to visit the venue themselves. You can follow my reviews here...
http://www.stadiumjourney.com/profiles/Jordan_Baer/
Ironically enough, the first venue I reviewed was Bowling Green Ballpark in Bowling Green, Kentucky. For those who don't know, the Bowling Green Hot Rods were suppose to be the Evansville Waves...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/06/now-you-will-know-rest-of-story.html
Evansville messed up big time by not building the Waves a ballpark. On my way to Bowling Green, I made sure to drive by the site where Evansville's ballpark should have been built. As it was back in 2003, the land once earmarked to be Evansville's new ballpark still remains a boring and dull parking lot as well as an adult entertainment store. As a result, only minimal development surrounding Casino Aztar exists near the land.
On the flip side, Bowling Green is thriving around their ballpark. Here is the official review I did for the ballpark and neighborhood...
http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/bowling-green-ballpark-s163/
It still amazes me that a city with exactly half of Evansville's population could build a ballpark that nice and a thriving neighborhood around it. But then again, it really doesn't surprise me. The attitude and mindset of business owners and residents in Bowling Green is 180 degrees different than Evansville's.
Before the game, I asked resident after resident, business owner after business owner if they approved of Bowling Green building the ballpark and would they do it again. Every single time, the answer was YES! For this reason, downtown Bowling Green is well ahead of downtown Evansville in making progress.
Roberts Stadium
I also believe that we can learn a lot about Roberts Stadium from the founder of StadiumJourney.com ( who has been tremendous in helping me get started), Mr. Paul Swaney who visited Roberts Stadium and gave us an unbiased opinion of what a traveling sports fan thinks of Roberts Stadium. Here is his review...
http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/roberts-municipal-stadium-s793/#official
Here is how he rated Roberts Stadium...
Food & Beverage- 3/5
Atmosphere- 4/5
Neighborhood- 3/5
Fans- 3/5
Access- 4/5
Return on Investment- 5/5
Extras- 3/5
This translates into a 3.6 out of 5 star rating. I also found some of Paul's comments to be very interesting such as...
"Whatever you do at Roberts Stadium, spend some time walking the concourse and perusing these displays."
"The overall draw here is the sense of history and tradition that you get walking around, talking to fans, and just keeping your eyes open."
"There aren’t a ton of options before or after a game, and even less that could be considered walkable, but there are a couple of places that I can recommend."
"Bathrooms are large and clean, and you won’t have to deal with lines unless it’s a packed house."
"The story of the tragedy of 1977, really touched a nerve for me, and I appreciate the respectful honor that the university gives that sad event. I hope that they’ll continue to do so in the new facility."
"The history of the basketball program, and basketball in southern Indiana in general is a huge part of the experience as well. Championship trophies in the house, even if they are Division II, are something special, and there is clearly pride over these past accomplishments."
So what can we learn from these comments? Several things including...
1. Out-of-town sports fans do travel to Evansville for Roberts Stadium's history which puts, "Heads In Beds."
2. Evansville has the opportunity to continue attracting these tourists by keeping Roberts Stadium and renovating it so that it pays tribute to its rich history.
3. The bathrooms aren't as bad as the Building Authority wants you to believe.
4. The ball fields won't work on the lot as tourists don't want to travel more than a handful of blocks for retail, food, and other amenities.
5. Being in the state of Indiana, we have the opportunity to take advantage of the fact that we are in basketball country, especially since Evansville native and Roberts Stadium architect Ralph Legeman patented the Indiana fieldhouse design.
Bosse Field
Mr. Paul Swaney also visited Bosse Field, and once more, he gave us an unbiased opinion of the ballpark and surrounding neighborhood. Here is his review...
http://www.stadiumjourney.com/stadiums/bosse-field-s200/
For Bosse Field, Paul rated it 4.1 out 5 stars and gave us the following quotes...
"Surrounded by Garvin Park to the north and Main Street to the south, you are in a great position to stroll through downtown or walk from the park to the ballpark."
"History hangs in the air, and that zen feeling that sometimes comes with watching baseball overtakes you as you settle in to your seat."
"Bosse Field should be on every baseball lovers' list of must-see venues. I absolutely love the minor quirks and the ability to visualize the past within the red brick walls."
"A depressed little downtown area still offers some quality should you be looking for some post or pre-game food or drinks. Right across the street is a dive of a place called the Hickory Pit Stop. To be completely honest, the only reason I ventured inside was because I had to use the bathroom."
"Further down Main Street is Turoni's Pizzeria & Brewery, a place I highly recommend."
"For this time machine trip, I would have gladly paid more. "
"It was also rewarding to see how many kids seemed to be hanging out around the park, playing catch, hitting balls, and just generally being part of the baseball atmosphere. There are Little League fields within Garvin Park, so that just adds to the baseball jubilation."
Like he did with his Roberts Stadium review, Paul's comments speak volumes about what Evansville can be for the traveling sports fan. To me, the following are very obvious things we can learn from Paul's comments...
1. We must do a better job with the district around Bosse Field. To have the third oldest ballpark in the nation surrounded by run down buildings is unacceptable.
2. Kleymeyer Park is THE PERFECT location for our ball fields project because of the districts' rich baseball history.
3. We must do everything we can to make sure Bosse Field stays intact when we build a new ballpark eventually.
4. The ball fields and Bosse Field would attract tourists all the way down Main Street to our future taxpayer funded hotel and arena.
The important thing to remember here is that we have a golden opportunity to fix multiple problems with one project. Never before have we had the opportunity to renovate Roberts Stadium, rebuild the Bosse Field district with the ball fields, and reconnect our downtown to nearby neighborhoods. We only get one chance at this so let's do it right.
A stadium journey can tell us everything we need to know about our town, and it's saying loud and clear: SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!
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