(illustrationsource.com) Last week, the Evansville mayoral debates kicked off with an event at Harrison High School. Let's take a look at some of the comments regarding Roberts Stadium... http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/aug/25/students-quiz-canidates/On the fate of Roberts Stadium, Davis, again, said it would be a waste of taxpayer money to raze the 56-year-old building and that it could be converted into a replacement for the aging Lloyd Pool. Davis told the crowd it would cost $1 million to tear down Roberts. "I would rather we reinvent Roberts into something useful," he said.It will cost more than a million to tear it down. The ECVB clearly got an estimate for $1.25 million that was rising to $1.5 million and then close to $2 million. It is extremely negligent for the city to think they will be able to get the cost down any cheaper by relying on selling materials that may not sell. Of course, they would love for us to have an Executive Inn 2 on the lot. If they can spend on demolition, they can spend on renovation.
But the first-ever specific estimate made to demolish the building submitted to the city on Aug. 19 by Klenck Co. cited a cost of $200,000.As usual, the biasness is showing here. Wasn't Klenck the company that had to be called back to the old Executive Inn site by an Emergency Demolition Order? The fact that demolition supporters are quoting an estimate that was obtained almost an entire year from when their ball fields project was suppose to take place just shows how unorganized they are. The longer this goes, the bigger their fish stories will be.
Winnecke said he would not make any suggestions on how to repurpose the building until all possibilities had been vetted by engineers. But he also said demolition should remain an option. "We've got to get people to wrap their arms around the idea of demolition," Winnecke said.This confirms the email I received from Commissioner Winnecke after I met with him last year...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-do-mayoral-candidates-stack-up-on.html
Obviously, demolition is Winnecke's preferred path which is 180 degrees different that Rick Davis. This makes you wonder just how serious a committee created by Winnecke would be. Would it really have the power to do anything or would it just be a red herring set up to make it look like the mayor himself did not demolish Roberts Stadium?
Let me be very clear, this post is not an attack on Commissioner Winnecke personally. There are a lot of corrupt and/or incompetent people that have served in our local government, Commissioner Winnecke isn't one of them. This post is aimed at Commissioner Winnecke's policy views which I find to be problematic in regards to Roberts Stadium and why I am endorsing Rick Davis for mayor.The city of Evansville is in no mood to "wrap their arms around the idea of demolition." For 12 months now, I have been working to save Roberts Stadium. From day 1, the movement has only gotten stronger not weaker. Some of the success stories include...
1. Going door to door in the Roberts Stadium neighborhood. I went several times through several streets and never encountered one single person who supported demolition. This also goes for several other precincts around town where I walked for candidates who support saving Roberts Stadium. Not only did I never encounter a supporter of demolishing Roberts Stadium, I actually encountered several upon several residents who expressed their vocal support for keeping Roberts Stadium.
2. Last spring, I sold "Save Roberts Stadium" shirts at cost. This project was wildly successful as nearly 40 shirts were sold in 3 weeks. I donated the final shirt to the WNIN Channel 9 auction and it sold for $32 which is FOUR TIMES the value...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/04/thank-you-to-all-those-who-placed-bid.html
3. The letters in support of Roberts Stadium have increased. Over the past 12 months, more and more viewers of this blog have written to the Courier & Press, the mayor, the councils, the ECVB, and anyone else they thought would make a difference. It's always good to open up the paper and read more articles in support of Roberts Stadium.
Last year, demolition supporters and ball fields proponents thought they would succeed as they were in the driver's seat. Today, that just isn't the case. The Save Roberts Stadium movement has become a nation. And the last thing on the minds of those who support Roberts Stadium is demolition.
Five days after the debate, Commissioner Winnecke met with the Evansville-Area Trails Coalition. The coalition also met with Rick Davis last month (I made Rick's but missed Lloyd's). Once more, Roberts Stadium was brought up...
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2011/aug/30/jobs-litter-on-winneckes-radar/
Questions from the audience quickly went to whether the Roberts Stadium site could be turned into a green property like a park. Winnecke said that unlike the suggestion of Davis, reinventing the facility into a natatorium would be too costly. He also said demolition could be a solution. "As a community we need to embrace idea that we need to raze Roberts," he said. But, like Davis, Winnecke said the decision should not be left up to one person. Winnecke said if he were mayor, a group of professionals would be gathered to explore ideas.Here we go again, same thing, different day. There are many, many problems with this comment.
First of all, a basic park makes no sense at all for the Roberts Stadium property. Wesselman Woods is a virgin forest also known as an "old-growth" forest. This means that trees on the land are original, old, and unique. Therefore, you cannot replace or add to this forest and expect it to be the same.
Furthermore, if you plant new trees close enough to Wesselman Woods, the seeds from these trees will find their way onto the old-growth forest lot and will begin to mix. Over time, these seeds will plant new trees and Wesselman Woods will not be a completely old-growth/virgin forest. In fact, the environmentalist group Green America recommends that planting in old growth forests be prohibited...
http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/fairtrade/whattoknow/environment.cfm
New planting in virgin forests is prohibited.If we are going to replant around Wesselman Woods, the correct decision must be to build a self-sufficient and separate botanical garden. The best one I've seen was in Omaha (http://www.lauritzengardens.org/). Trees inside a botanical garden must be contained and shielded from the nature preserve so that Wesselman Woods retains its old-growth character.
Constructing a botanical garden will take a lot of funding but will eventually pay for itself with admission/ ticket revenue, membership revenue, and grants. Most importantly, a botanical garden would compliment, not supplant, Roberts Stadium. Both buildings would form a buffer between Wesselman Woods and the city of Evansville.
Secondly, Commissioner Winnecke did not give us a cost estimate for planting a forest on the Roberts Stadium lot, yet claimed that it was cheaper than Rick Davis' natatorium idea. The truth is, demolishing Roberts Stadium, constructing even a basic park on the lot, and then maintaining it will not be cheaper than renovating Roberts Stadium and placing mid-sized events there, which is something that I firmly believe will get done if we vote for Rick Davis.
When David Dunn was trying to build the ball fields on the lot, he claimed that maintenance costs would be between $300,000 to $500,000. Yet, we are told that operating Roberts Stadium for $300,000 a year is too costly? No part of Winnecke's plan makes sense here. Sooner or later, I expect Commissioner Winnecke to realize that there is no cheaper or better solution than renovating Roberts Stadium.
Lastly, Commissioner Winnecke fails to tell us how the Parks Department is going to be able to take care of yet another park when they have admitted they already have their hands full. He also fails to tell us why a park would do Evansville any good especially since a replanted park next to a virgin forest would look phony and uninspiring. Commissioner Winnecke also fails to tell us how a park on this lot would generate any revenue for the city that will be lost with Roberts Stadium.
I'm still trying to "wrap my arms around" the idea that we should embrace demolition with a blind eye towards how much it would cost, how much it would cost to place another project on the lot, and how much it would cost to maintain the project. We should do all of this yet if we expect to renovate Roberts Stadium we better have an exact estimate, an exact plan, and an exact revenue estimate? This is clearly a double standard.
I also don't understand why Commissioner Winnecke isn't committed to saving Roberts Stadium. If you go to Commissioner Winnecke's " Winnecke for Mayor" Facebook page, you will see that Commissioner Winnecke himself visited Roberts Stadium several times during the Aces men's basketball season and apparently had a good time...
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983#!/photo.php?fbid=150234978364386&set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983&type=1&theater
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983#!/photo.php?fbid=150235158364368&set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983&type=1&theater
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983#!/photo.php?fbid=151232038264680&set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983&type=1&theater
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983#!/photo.php?fbid=151243121596905&set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983&type=1&theater
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983#!/photo.php?fbid=151243668263517&set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983&type=1&theater
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983#!/photo.php?fbid=156784797709404&set=a.150101805044370.39305.138719009515983&type=1&theater
On one photo Commissioner Winnecke writes, "Aces come alive in second half, up 61-46 with 2:38 to play!!! Roberts I'd rocking!!!" On another photo he writes, " WOW this is fun Aces 40 Bears 28 with 48 seconds to go in the half'"
It also appears that Commissioner Winnecke had no problem whatsoever with the beams around the luxury suites that Building Authority manager Dave Rector claims are significantly blocking the view of luxury suite ticket holders. From the pictures, you can see that Roberts Stadium is in great shape both in the lower bowl and in the luxury suites, and Commissioner Winnecke is enjoying Roberts Stadium not avoiding it. It appears that he is Livin' La Vida Loca...
So why is Commissioner Winnecke strongly against fighting for Roberts Stadium? We are left with more questions that answers. In my opinion, Commissioner Winnecke could have given a much better speech to the Evansville-Area Trails Coalition. It should have gone something like this...
"I'm honored to be here to speak to the Evansville-Area Trails Coalition. I fully support their efforts to convert Evansville from an automobile dependent community to a bicycle and walkable community. As a result, I will fight for city-county consolidation only if the plan is strongly against urban sprawl.
As Commissioner, I approved road projects that totaled over $100 million. As mayor, I will work to make sure funds are redirected towards our parks, trails, paths, mass transit, and urban core instead. Wesselman Woods falls into this category.
As mayor, I believe that Roberts Stadium should be saved because of its rich history. However, that does not mean that it cannot be a part of our trails program. As mayor, I will make sure the main level of Roberts Stadium is open on non event days so that it can serve as the indoor part of the greenway which will serve as a safe, reliable, and expansive part of the greenway on rainy days.
As mayor, I will also fight to make sure that the Wesselman Woods district is both preserved and enhanced. I will form a committee that will be charged with acquiring funds for projects such as renovating Hartke Pool, constructing a botanical garden, and/or redigging the old Wabash & Erie Canal for Canoe Evansville.
I also believe that the original part of the greenway your organization helped fight for is being neglected. As mayor, I will cleanup and enhance the greenway around Garvin & Kleymeyer Parks. As mayor, I will fight for the ball fields project to be constructed at Kleymeyer Park because I believe this project is just what the doctor ordered for the greenway and the Garvin Park area.
As your mayor, I will make sure that you can go to the greenway and ball fields at Kleymeyer & Garvin Parks and be proud of it. I will also be aggressive in cleaning up the district around Bosse Field so that our entire community can enjoy and patronize our progressive greenway. As your mayor, I will make sure that our trails and greenways are taken to a whole new level while keeping our historic Roberts Stadium intact and promoting our historic Bosse Field district at the same time."
If I were Commissioner Winnecke, that is what I would have told the coalition. As I've said a thousand times on this blog, we ALL can win with this project if we do things correctly. I just hope Commissioner Winnecke realizes this before time runs out.
Don't wrap your arms around demolition, wrap your arms around Roberts Stadium. SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!
No comments:
Post a Comment