Thank You ECVB Director Mr. Bob Warren For Meeting With Me

(http://www.evansvillecvb.org/media/press-release/evansville-cvb-hires-executive-director)

Yesterday, while remembering the 34th anniversary of the Evansville Aces men's basketball team plane crash, I sat down with Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau Director Bob Warren to discuss both Roberts Stadium and the projects we could help by renovating Roberts Stadium.

First of all, I just want to say how impressed I am with the work Mr. Warren, ECVB board president Steve Schaeffer, and the rest of the ECVB board have done with our visitors bureau in such a short time. This time last year, we were stuck with an ECVB that refused to listen to the public about Roberts Stadium, refused to consider alternative locations for the ball fields project, and refused to make themselves available to local activists period.

Today, none of that is the case as Mr. Warren graciously gave me over an hour of his time to listen to my ideas, my vision, and the path I'm going down with Roberts Stadium. It is such a nice breath of fresh air to have the ECVB back on the people's side. Words cannot express how grateful I am to all of those at the ECVB for turning one of our most important organizations around. We've always heard that saying, "What a difference a year makes." When you get time, stop by the ECVB headquarters at the Pagoda and you will see this belief in full effect.

So how did the meeting go? I would say it went pretty well. I was able to cover almost all of the Roberts Stadium issue with Mr. Warren and was able to get some advice from him as I chase my last few leads before Mayor Elect Lloyd Winnecke starts up his committee. What all did I cover with Mr. Warren? Several things including the following...

1. I started out by introducing myself and then going into what we can do with Roberts Stadium. To start off, I showed him the data from Mr. Chip Rosetti who wants to bring the Evansville Rage indoor football team, minor league basketball, mid-sized concerts, lacrosse, inline skating, and possibly the Evansville Crush who Mr. Rosetti use to own.

I talked about the need to raise the floor for these teams to have a big enough playing surface. I also talked about the importance of raising the floor to eliminate the water pumps which is the most expensive part of Roberts Stadium's maintenance costs.

2. I talked about some of the events that we can add to Mr. Rosetti's tenants to fill in some more of the dates. I talked about the Ralph Legeman Fieldhouse Basketball Classic idea...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/10/how-do-we-put-heads-in-beds-start-ralph.html

This tournament, if executed smoothly, would definitely bring in its fair share of hotel nights. We can also host other youth sports tournaments in basketball and soccer during the summer months when there will be plenty of open dates.

3. I talked about the importance of getting USI to consider Roberts Stadium. I talked about the fact that USI can move into Roberts Stadium which has 15 luxury boxes, zero debt, and no construction delays. This will increase their corporate revenue which they said they desperately needed to improve back in 2009...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/it-has-now-been-2-years-since-usi-ue.html

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/10/this-arena-isnt-big-enough-for-both-of.html

4. I talked about the various ways Lloyd Winnecke can sell Roberts Stadium to the public...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/10/this-arena-isnt-big-enough-for-both-of.html

5. After talking about the benefits of Roberts Stadium, I then talked about the negatives of the counter proposal- a park. I brought in the article where the Parks Department specifically says they cannot take on any new parks...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-call-to-stand-evansville-parks.html

6. I talked about the fact that I support the construction of the Ford Center and that Roberts Stadium will not compete with the Ford Center. I brought in the News4U article where VenuWorks Director Mr. Scott Schoenike talks about the Ford Center already being filled up...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/no-curtain-call-needed-for-roberts.html

7. Once I showed Mr. Warren the benefits of saving Roberts Stadium versus the negatives of demolishing it, I then talked about financing. I mentioned the idea of selling naming rights to the gates...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/selling-secondary-naming-rights-can.html

I also showed him where we already have the vast majority of the funding to do the renovations..

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/if-we-move-quickly-weve-already-got.html

8. Then, that's where I brought the idea of constructing the 8 ball fields at Kleymeyer Park. I showed him how we should build them to replicate vintage MLB ball fields...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2010/11/introducing-big-league-dreams-sports.html

I also talked about the many benefits of placing the fields at Kleymeyer Park...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/for-evcb-city-hall-roberts-stadium-will.html

9. Mr. Warren mentioned that he believed the previous ECVB had looked at the lot but decided the landfill underneath it would be a disadvantage. I talked to him about the fact that this is an asset...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2010/11/red-rover-red-rover-please-send-epa-on.html

10. Lastly, I tied all of this together by showing him that if we raised the floor at Roberts Stadium, we would have approximately 6,000 extra seats leftover. With these seats, we can have 750 nice personal seats at each ball field instead of bleachers. With the seats, we can use a piece of the Innkeepers Tax to finance the renovation while making the ball fields project cheaper at the same time.

Once I went through all of that, Mr. Warren thanked me for my passion towards Roberts Stadium. He said that when he evaluates projects he looks at "what is the best use of the land." He said that if I can sell the city on that I would win (which I do believe I have and can do once more). He said that he is looking forward to seeing what Lloyd Winnecke's committee comes up with. He also said that he wants what is best for the city.

What I like best about Mr. Warren's style of management is his down-to-earth attitude and willingness to listen to all ideas, evaluate them, and give advice on what we can do with each idea. I feel strongly that the future of the ECVB is bright. I'm excited to see the organization rebounding from last year's debacles. I'm also excited about some of their projects they are working on such as Evansville's 200th birthday next year.

If you haven't had a chance to meet Mr. Bob Warren, make sure you do sometime. It will be worth your time as you will see just how far our ECVB has come in less than 12 months time. I appreciate Mr. Warren giving me an hour of his time yesterday and I look forward to seeing Roberts Stadium putting heads in beds.

Thank you Mr. Bob Warren for meeting with me, and LET'S SAVE ROBERTS STADIUM!