If Case Law Does Fit, You Must Acquit

As Roberts Stadium remains on trial for charges and allegations that it is functionally obsolete, a detriment to Evansville's progress, and a hindrance to Wesselman Woods, we can look to at many other Case Law situations to disprove these charges and allegations.

What is case law?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Case_law

"In law, case law is the set of reported judicial decisions of selected appellate courts and other courts of first instance which make new interpretations of the law and, therefore, can be cited as precedents in a process known as stare decisis."

For those who don't speak the language of law: Decisions made by courts can set precedents on decisions made in future court cases.

What makes the Roberts Stadium decision an easy one to me is the numerous "case law" examples we have seen for this type of decision. Not only does Roberts Stadium have many case law examples to go by, the entire plan, including the the ball fields project, has many case law examples that set a precedent for us.

Let's dive into the many case law examples we can use for Roberts Stadium and the ball fields project as well.

Topic: Saving Roberts Stadium and setting up a 501(c)3 non-profit organization to run the facility

Case Law: This has all been done before with the Coliseum, Old Courthouse, and Old Jail...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/01/history-repeats-itself-before-save.html

There is even case law for the 15 member task force that I am honored to be a part of. During the debate about what do to with these three facilities once the current Civic Center opened up, the "Save the Coliseum" and "Save the Courthouse" groups formed with politicians, business leaders, and community organizers united to put together a plan for the facilities. These organizations later merged and formed a non-profit organization called The Conrad Baker Foundation. For many years this organization ran all 3 of the facilities for Evansville...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/just-remember-weve-been-here-before.html

Topic: Raising Roberts Stadium's floor

Case Law: Roberts Stadium has already existed with a floor above the water table. For 35 years (1956-1991), Roberts Stadium served the Evansville community just fine as legends such as Larry Bird and Jerry Sloan have both played at Roberts Stadium before the renovations.

From the files of Roberts Stadium architect Ralph Legeman

Furthermore, there are currently two other sports facilities that are attempting to raise the floor on the playing surface for their venue. They are..

1. Maple Leaf Gardens- Toronto, Ontario (already opened)- http://www.blogto.com/city/2010/10/the_maple_leaf_gardens_makeover/

2. Pontiac Silverdome- Right outside of Detroit, MI (not opened yet)- http://media.mlive.com/michigan_soccer/photo/pontiac-silverdome-renovationsjpg-e6d9727aad92ebc3.jpg

Topic: Roberts Stadium co-existing with the Ford Center as a mid-sized facility

Case Law: In the big cities, you will notice that Freedom Hall in Louisville, KY, the Omaha Civic Auditorium in Omaha, NE, the Pepsi Coliseum in Indianapolis, IN, and the Nashville Municipal Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee all execute this philosophy perfectly.

Even better though, Sioux Falls, SD is beginning to break ground on their new arena while keeping their current arena at the same time...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/12/sioux-falls-south-dakota-well-go-with-2.html

Sioux Falls understands the difference between the two facilities, the need to have both facilities to book all of their events, and the need to pair the two together with their convention center as a package deal for entertainment organizations.

Topic: Using Roberts Stadium's main level as an indoor trail hub for the Greenway

Case Law: Many facilities around the U.S allow you to go inside of them on non-event days including our own Bosse Field...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/10/neither-rain-nor-sleet-nor-gloom-of.html

One facility that sticks out is Gainesville, Florida's Ben Hill Griffin ( "The Swamp") which serves as a park during the week...



The park is open for dusk to dawn and the University of Florida asks is that you don't walk on the sensitive grass on the field. This set up allows UF students to walk around the stadium to make sure that no one destroys the facility during the week.

Topic: Moving Div II USI into Roberts Stadium

Case Law: When UE moved into Roberts Stadium in 1956, they were Div II. For 21 years, UE played at Roberts Stadium as a Div II team. During this time, the Aces claimed 5 NCAA National Championship Titles. Because of Roberts Stadium, the Aces steadily grew as a program. In 1977, they moved up to Div I and are now a member of the premier Missouri Valley Conference.

Topic: Leaving PAC as a practice facility while moving USI to Roberts Stadium

Case Law: The Old Armory on the campus of UE is still used for athletic purposes today even though the Aces have not played there since 1956. Also, the Carson Center on the campus of UE is relatively the same size as PAC and hosts other sports home games as well as practice sessions for UE men's and women's basketball. There are also rumors going around that UE wants to expand the facility to house 5,000-7,000 seats but will still not house UE basketball games.

Topic: Changing the Ford Center's name to Ford Fieldhouse to commemorate Ralph Legeman
With Ford Center already being used in Oklahoma City, now is the right time to make the simple adjustment to Ford Fieldhouse...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/08/ford-center-again-why-not-ford.html

Topic: Demolishing Roberts Stadium and building a park on the lot will cause the Parks Department's budget to skyrocket while leaving other parks in shambles.

Case Law: Back in 2010, then Courier & Press reporter Dan Shaw did an excellent article on the Parks Dept...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/jun/20/special-report-evansville-parks-department-isnt/

This article speaks volumes about why it is inappropriate to build another park for the Parks Department. Here is the post I did about it in an earlier post...

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

Topic: Building the ball fields at Kleymeyer Park next to Bosse Field

Case Law: There are two premier ball fields facilities in the U.S with another one in the works. They are...

Cal Ripken Academy in Aberdeen, Maryland, Dream's Park in Cooperstown, NY, and the soon to be built ball field complex in Dyersville, Iowa next to the actually Field of Dreams movie site. What are the benefits to these facilities?

Aberdeen, Maryland- Takes advantage of hometown legend Cal Ripken Jr.
Cooperstown, New York- Takes advantage of baseball history where the game was invented.
Dyersville, Iowa- Takes advantage of the movie Field of Dreams.

All three of these sites are great, but all three of them lack what the other two have. Here in Evansville, we have ALL THREE BENEFITS IN ONE SPOT! We have MLB legend Don Mattingly's youth baseball field in Garvin Park, we have the third oldest active ballpark in Bosse Field, and we had the movie A League of Their Own at Bosse Field.

Topic: Building the ball fields to replicate vintage MLB fields

Case Law: Aberdeen, Maryland built their fields to replicate the ballparks that the Baltimore Orioles and Cal Ripken Jr. have played at...

http://www.ripkentournaments.com/aberdeenfacilities.cfm

This facility has been overwhelmingly successful. Also, Big League Dreams Parks out in California and Texas has incorporated MLB ballpark designs into all of their fields...

http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/replica-fields

This private company has consistently turned a profit for their investors!

Topic: Selling the old Ace's court to raise funds for the renovation

Case Law: They did this exact same thing in 1984...

http://local.evpl.org/views/viewimage.asp?ID=666123

Topic: Giving the seats to the ball fields project in exchange for a small piece of the Innkeepers Tax

Case Law: During the 1990-91 renovation, all bleachers inside of Roberts Stadium were removed in favor of putting the current seats in the entire bowl area. Those bleachers were not thrown away or discarded. Rather, they were put in Mesker Amphitheatre during one of the last rounds of renovations the facility has undergone.

Topic: Selling naming rights to the gates to finance the renovation

Case Law: This idea has been widely popular around the country. Although it is mostly found in new facilities like Lucas Oil Stadium, it can also be found in older facilities like Lambeau Field which opened the same month (October) or the same year (1956) that Roberts Stadium opened...

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

Topic: Demolishing Roberts Stadium will go over budget significantly

Case Law: If you genuinely think that the city can get a good deal on demolishing Roberts Stadium, just ask Corpus Christi, Texas how that worked out for them...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/08/we-cant-afford-to-duplicate-corpus.html

As you can see, there are at least 14 examples of "case law" that serve as a precedent for how we should handle our current situation with Roberts Stadium, the Ford Center, the ball fields, and the Roberts Stadium site in general.

All 14 of these case law examples are strong, correct, and clear in their message about our situation. Case law is a very effective method for making sure that we follow the correct trails that have been established before us. It also speaks loud and clear about which direction we should go if we want to be consistent, fair, and successful.

LET'S THROW OUT THE CASE AGAINST ROBERTS STADIUM AND SAVE THIS ICONIC AND LEGENDARY FACILITY!