Post Public Hearing #1 Thoughts

The rain was forming lakes and streams in the roadways, the Icemen were battling for first place, and UNOE was having another important meeting. Even with all of those events taking place simultaneously, our Roberts Stadium Task Force drew just the right number of people we were looking for.

At last night's first meeting, it was estimated that over 40 people attended. I am very satisfied with that amount of people as I remember back when just the city was hosting meetings over just the idea of building an arena less than 20 people showed up. I also believe that we had just the right amount of people to have a serious and fair debate that we would not have had if a mob would have showed up.

First of all, before I begin diving into the meeting, I want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to Chief of Staff Director Steve Schaefer. Last night at the mayor's traveling town hall, I asked Steve if he could look into getting the graffiti taken off of Roberts Stadium before the meeting Saturday.

For those who don't know, a Chief of Staff is one of the busiest jobs in the city. I would venture to say that Steve may be just as busy as the mayor. Yet, even with all of the work he has to do, Steve still took time out of his busy schedule to contact the people who were in charge of removing the graffiti at Roberts Stadium. By mid-afternoon yesterday, THE GRAFFITI HAS BEEN REMOVED.

Words cannot express how grateful I am to Steve for taking care of this issue. This proves to me, and it should prove to you as well, that the current administration does care about Roberts Stadium. So, if you pass by Steve in the next few days, make sure you thank him. I am thoroughly impressed with the administration Mayor Winnecke has assembled around him.

Also, I do want to add something else before we begin. Reading today's Courier & Press article on the Roberts Stadium Task Force, I would like to say MUCH BETTER Courier & Press. This article was fair and balanced. I hope this article is the start of them giving Roberts Stadium a chance as well!

With all of that being said, let's dive into the meeting....

As usual, about 70% of those that attended came with ideas for Roberts Stadium while the other 30% came with the "green space or park" idea. My main concern with those who want to tear down Roberts Stadium is that they obviously don't understand most of the aspects of the situation. For example...

1. We kept getting that "compete with the Ford Center" line. When I mentioned that Roberts Stadium has 1/3rd the rigging capacity of the Ford Center and would have 3,000-4,000 less seats than the Ford Center if it was scaled down to a mid-sized arena, they started changing their mind. When I named the tenants that would go into Roberts Stadium, they realized that NONE of them are Ford Center material. I then reassured them that we should put a "Right of First Refusal" clause in Roberts Stadium's contract. This would eliminate this debate entirely. After that, we didn't hear a word about the competition issue.

2. We kept getting that "Expand Wesselman Woods" line as well. Green space and park supporters don't realize the size and scope of the land. I made it very clear that the back lot was plenty big enough for this type of nature project without involving Roberts Stadium. I reminded them that Wesselman Woods is an old-growth nature preserve with 300 + year old trees. You cannot "expand Wesselman Woods." If you put new growth trees there, their seedlings would affect and hurt the current nature preserve. For this reason, I suggested a lake go in the back lot (a lake was popular among those who wanted something green).

The most important thing to remember in the Roberts Stadium debate is that Roberts Stadium has the potential to bring back the lost SMG jobs AND stabilize the businesses around it that lost revenue when it closed. A greenspace does none of that.

3. The most important victory to me last night was that all 4 groups (the crowd was broken down into these groups) mentioned that they want a multi-purpose facility AND they want USI out there. Never in the history of Evansville has there been such an outcry for USI basketball to be upgraded. Remember, it took three times for the city to build the Ford Center- Once in 1989, once in 1998, and then in 2009. The previous two tries involved USI. It should be very obvious to anyone following this situation that a multi-purpose facility where ALL OF OUR IDEAS can go is best for Roberts Stadium and USI should be our main anchor tenant.

4. All of the citizens that were in my group agreed that the correct strategy that needs to be implemented is an overall comprehensive master plan. It is my belief that we ALL can win in this situation if we work together. I will be talking about this at the bottom of this post.

5. Leadership Evansville did a wonderful job last night leading the debates. The two members that were in my group did an excellent job of grabbing the key points and building off of them. I would like thank them as well for taking time out of their schedule to help us gather these ideas.

Overall, I am still 110% convinced that we can all win and that Roberts Stadium itself must be downsized to a mid-sized arena. I am also extremely satisfied with the meeting last night.



(click to enlarge)

Note: This is a master plan and should not be built all at once!

Looking at the layout you will see the following benefits.

1. Those who wanted something green will get that in the back lot. They get their lake (which is unique in that it's shaped like a triangle) and they also get their Greenway connection route to the State Hospital grounds.

2. Those who want a natatorium get their wish as we kill two birds with one stone. It just doesn't make sense to convert Roberts Stadium into a natatorium when we would have to turn right back around and renovate Hartke Pool. Let's address the natatorium and indoor water park resort when we have the funds to address Hartke Pool. Furthermore, bringing on an investor for an indoor water park resort would make the plan cheaper and give our complex a small hotel.

3. Those who want a designated skate park get their facility in the northern lot. Keep in mind, this facility is important in attracting BMX tournaments to our mid-sized Roberts Stadium. As I talked about in the article about Portland, Oregon, two different sized facilities are what BMX tournaments look for. If the skate park is located adjacent to Roberts Stadium this will be a slam dunk for any bid we place for a tournament. This facility should be built in cooperation with investors who are wanting to go into Roberts Stadium anyways.

4. The southern parking lot is maintained but scaled back so that its environmental impact is reduced. It's also scaled back because a 5,000-6,000 seat Roberts Stadium does not need 4,000 parking spaces anymore. This will also help our budget as we will not have to provide maintenance for a gigantic parking lot anymore. This parking lot shall serve as a shuttle stop for events to the Ford Center as well.

5. Most importantly, Roberts Stadium is a mid-sized, multi-purpose event. Those who want travelling BMX tournaments get their wish. Those who want indoor football, minor league basketball, USI basketball, indoor lacrosse, inline skating, mid-sized concerts, high school basketball, small trade shows, indoor soccer, youth sports tournaments, and college basketball tournaments that would be a package deal with the Ford Center get their wish.

Not only would we finally have a place for all of these types of events, we would also be enjoying intangible benefits such as having Roberts Stadium as a disaster relief area, using the main level as an indoor Greenway on non-event days, and using its smaller parking lot to shuttle patrons to the Ford Center.

6. There is case law for this type of layout. It's Portland, Oregon: http://www.pdxactionsports.com/

Why is this the best path financially?

1. We just need to raise the floor, replace the Central Plant, and make the cosmetic renovations to Roberts Stadium to open our city up to all of the above revenue generating sports (mainly USI). The revenue from these events will pay for Roberts Stadium many times over.

2. The additional revenue from Roberts Stadium will be used to take care of the lake and park behind the facility.

3. The skate park will be built as a joint venture between the public and private sector so that very little public funds are used.

4. The renovation price tag for Hartke Pool can be addressed better by killing multiple birds with one stone.

5. The indirect benefits such as business for Kipplee's, Turnoni's, and Western Rib-Eye are maximized.

To those who braved the weather and missed out on other events to come to last night's meeting- Thank you. Now, the next stop is the iconic and legendary confines of Roberts Stadium.

SEE YOU AT ROBERTS STADIUM!