(http://evansville.wbu.com/download/25317)
It's now been over twenty years since Roberts Stadium underwent a renovation that should have never happened. City leaders were warned long before the renovation took place that it would be unwise to lower the floor...
http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=931099
Once this was discovered, a plan to build a downtown arena was put together...
http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=804568
Yet, city leaders, who were more concerned about short term finances and personal pride, made the wrong decision and renovated Roberts Stadium. This decision turned out to be a major mistake for Evansville as the city has had to pay quite a bit more to build the Ford Center 22 years later, and the renovation compromised Roberts Stadium's exterior to the point where it is not considered historic...
http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/oct/01/preservation-officer-roberts-no-longer-historical/?partner=popular
Did Evansville's city leaders learn their lesson not to renovate historic structures? Of course not, we still have politicians bragging about this duct-tape solution...
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:0lXCwrdfQcUJ:www.vanderburgh.org/auditor/comm_mins/February/Feb0303cc.htm+david+mosby+bosse+field+sewers&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com
"President Mosby: I guess, my comment would be, and I have hashed out, I guess, within myself a lot about the baseball diamond, or the baseball stadium downtown. I can actually say, as an elected official, I, for one, did not have any dialogue, I should say with the Mayor, or the city over this. My first thought is in the state of the way things are today, and the financial condition of the county, the city, the school corporation, we’ve heard about their financial woes recently. I would not be in favor of a downtown baseball stadium. I think we have probably one of the nicest baseball parks around in Bosse Field. I mean, Bosse Field is a tremendous asset to this community. There has been movies shot at Bosse Field. There has been ball played at Bosse Field. High schools have used Bosse Field. Bosse Field has been a grand facility. I think we could probably take one fifth of the money that they are talking about spending downtown, and probably renovate Bosse Field, and all the mechanicals, and probably add a few seats to it. I sat on the City Council, I guess, when this city pondered building a new arena downtown, and at one time we were given a price of about $78 million plus to put an arena downtown. At that time this city had to make what was probably a financial decision in the best interest of the whole community. We did not elect to build a downtown arena. In turn we spent $16.1 million, about, per se one fifth or sixth of the cost again, and we have Roberts Stadium today. And Roberts Stadium has served the needs of this community very well over the past few years. I know there’s groups out there that say we need to build a ball diamond. It’s jobs for this city. It’s jobs for the community. I can assure you, once again, when I sat back on the City Council, there’s a storm sewer master plan sitting down there at the Board of Works with 100 plus projects on it, at a cost of about $178 million. If this city has $25 or $30 million to put into a ball diamond, then they need to pull that master plan off the shelves down there, and start some work."
Now, our city leaders have set their sights on Wesselman Woods, one of the greatest original woods in the United States. From the Wesselman Nature Society website...
http://www.wesselmannaturesociety.org/woods/
"No other city in the United States with a population exceeding 100,000 has within its corporate limits, a timber stand of such acreage and sylvan qualities."
"The trails through Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve allow visitors an extraordinary opportunity to view Indiana as it was before European settlers arrived. Fortunately, the majority of the Preserve has remained untouched through the years."
"This lowland forest is exceptionally high quality. The mean density of trees is high (125 trees per acre) and the canopy starts far above the forest floor. Many canopy level trees exceed 100 feet tall, some of which are estimated to be nearly 300 years old."
Of all the quotes found in the link above, the first line sums up Wesselman Woods best...
"Wesselman Woods Nature Preserve is an Indiana State Nature Preserve and National Natural Landmark."
Basically, we're at the same point with Wesselman Woods that we were with Roberts Stadium back in the late 80s/early 90s. We can choose to go down the same path of ruining Wesselman Woods with an artificial expansion that would stand out like a sore thumb and could possibly ruin Wesselman Woods' historic designation overtime as the new trees begin to produce seeds that would take over the land currently occupied by trees that are believed to be over 300 years old. Or, we can do the right thing and leave Wesselman Woods as it is.
It is important to understand that once you demolish an old growth forest, you can not replant it. This would be like demolishing Roberts Stadium and building it back. For this reason, most environmental groups recommend new planting in old growth forests be prohibited...
http://www.greenamerica.org/programs/fairtrade/whattoknow/environment.cfm
"New planting in virgin forests is prohibited."
For those who want to see some improvement at Wesselman Woods (I fall into this category as well), there are plenty of options for you. These include...
1. Rewatering the Old Wabash & Erie Canal that runs through the forest. This would allow Canoe Evansville to bring guests and tourists to the nature preserve to canoe without having to bus them to Pigeon Creek. Eventually, the canal could also connect to Pigeon Creek.
2. Finding a proper use for the land next to Stockwell road that is north of the railroad tracks and south of Advanced Auto Parts. Last year, Dawn Heil proposed putting a campground on the site but was met with strong opposition...
http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext?nxd_id=227396
Why don't we work on finding something environmentally friendly for this property which has the potential to connect both sides of the woods?
3. Improving the Greenway. Of course, I've mentioned that the main level of Roberts Stadium should serve as a park/ indoor trail hub to the Greenway for residents to go when the weather is bad. This idea could also connect the Greenway from Wesselman Park to the State Hospital grounds.
4. Converting the back lot into green space. Although it is right next to Wesselman Woods and shouldn't contain a park on the lot, the back lot does offer potential for those looking to improve Wesselman Woods. I've tossed out the idea of pursuing a botanical garden. Why? Because it would be mostly indoors, would be eligible for federal funding for research, and would eventually generate enough revenue via admission tickets to sustain itself. We've seen the good things USI has done with New Harmony. Wouldn't it be nice if USI moved their men's and women's basketball teams into Roberts Stadium and expanded their forestry and historical preservation initiatives to include Wesselman Woods?
Just like those who want a natatorium can work with Hartke Pool, those who don't want to park at the Ford Center can park at Roberts Stadium, and those who want to put heads in beds can host basketball tournaments and youth sports tournaments, there are numerous opportunities for those interested in Wesselman Woods that don't involve demolishing Roberts Stadium.
I've talked before about the hidden costs and expenses the Parks Department would have to take on for a new park at Roberts Stadium...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-call-to-stand-evansville-parks.html
I did this because the truth is building a park on the Roberts Stadium lot makes no sense whatsoever.
1. Is it financially responsible? No, demolishing Roberts Stadium will cost the city AT LEAST $200,000 (from the taxpayers of course) while constructing the park will cost an undetermined amount of money and maintaining it will cost an undetermined amount of money. I asked Lloyd Winnecke if those who want a park had an estimate for all of this. He said they do not. Last year, David Dunn said it would cost $300,000 to $500,000 a year to maintain 8 ball fields. Imagine maintaining a completely new park!
2. Does it create good paying jobs? No, the existing Wesselman Woods employees would be in charge of promoting the park (didn't they launch a campaign to try and find new funds already?) while the Parks Department with its jobs that pay slightly above minimum wage would have to maintain it. If you read the article above, you will see that they are already pushed to the max with their labor budget.
On the flip side, saving Roberts Stadium brings back those laid off by SMG and creates good paying sports management jobs.
3. Does it create economic development? No, while there may be a few tourists here and there that will come to town to visit Wesselman Woods (which they will anyways), this park will not "put heads in beds" like Roberts Stadium will with mid-sized events and tournaments. Surrounding restaurants, hotels, and shops are better off with Roberts Stadium.
4. Does it even improve our parks system? No, not at all. In fact, it will take away funding that could ordinary be used on parks such as Kleymeyer, Garvin, Vann, and Sunset which have fallen into unacceptable conditions. Each year, it will contain to drain the parks department as there will be no tourists who will buy tickets to make it self-sustaining.
Roberts Stadium will be self-sustaining with its revenue from rent, ticket sales, concession stand sales, and naming rights sales not to mention the occasional fundraisers.
5. Will it help Lloyd Winnecke's approval rating? Not a chance. By far and away, there are more people that support Roberts Stadium than a park. And as each year passes with increased government spending on this newly created artificial expansion of Wesselman Woods, those who supported a park will begin to realize that they were sold a bill of bad goods. While other parks start to crumble because this newly created park is draining resources with no chance of turning a profit, all sides of town will begin to see the mistake this park turned out to be.
On the flip side, Roberts Stadium will do wonders for Lloyd Winnecke. If done correctly, we have the opportunity to help all 4 sides of town out (downtown too) while displaying fiscal responsibility, creating economic development, and producing jobs at the same time.
When I talked with mayor Weinzapfel last year, he said he went all out on the Ford Center because he was tired of building half baked and second rate things in Evansville. I couldn't agree anymore. So, why in the world would we want to put an artificial and newly created park that will cause problems being next to Wesselman Woods which is original, historic, and authentic?
I don't know about you but I'm tired of Evansville building things that are cheap in the short run but costly in the long run. I'm tired of Evansville undertaking projects that do nothing but decrease the value of our historical icons and assets. Lastly, I'm tired of Evansville standing for nothing while falling for everything.
We saw firsthand in 1990-1991 what an expansion does to a historical asset. Let's not repeat this with Wesselman Woods, LET'S SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!
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