Thank You Mayor Winnecke..... THANK YOU!

It's the middle of the night, my head is hurting, my throat is sore, my lungs are congested, and my entire body is weak all over. However, my mindset is of nothing but jubilation while my adrenaline is flowing. My night has just begun in my pursuit to save a venue that has been there for so many people for so many years and is still proving that it has a lot of financially beneficial years left in it.

At this current time, I am reminded of a quote from Louisville Cardinals Basketball Coach Rick Pitino that is plastered on a wall inside their brand new arena...

Indeed, those who work the hardest are the last to surrender, and today we've made it past one more obstacle as Mayor Winnecke has taken the bold and correct step of refusing to accept the ECVB's plan to put ball fields on the Roberts Stadium footprint. Even better is the fact that I myself couldn't have said it any better...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/feb/28/no-headline---ev_ballparks/

""The idea of a softball/baseball complex near Roberts Stadium was thoroughly debated last year, and the community came to the consensus that the Roberts Stadium property was not the best location for the development," he said.

"While I believe a complex such as the one proposed would be of great recreational value and would benefit the city economically, I am not in favor of locating it within the footprint of Roberts Stadium.""

Before I dive into my thoughts moving forward, I just want to say how grateful, thankful, and humbled I am that Mayor Winnecke would take this position. It seems like the previous administration could not have recycled this terrible plan any more times than they did. In my meeting with Mayor Winnecke last November, Lloyd said exactly what he said today.

It is great to see that 3 months later Mayor Winnecke is living up to his promise. It's also great to see Mayor Winnecke taking the open minded approach to Roberts Stadium. Back in 2010, I emailed all three County Commissioners- Lloyd Winnecke, Steve Melcher, and Troy Tornatta. Of the three, Lloyd was the ONLY one to email me back and set up a meeting with me. Today, our whole entire city should now be proud of who we have serving us in the mayor's office.

So while those who support building the ball fields or a green space have settled in for the night and are deep in their sleep, I am arranging my next round of people I want to talk to about Roberts Stadium. Just this past week, I have talked to the following organizations...

- USI
- The Evansville Crush
- The Evansville Rage
- SMG

I have also visited Western Rib-Eye and Kipplee's to get their opinion on Roberts Stadium (I will talk about this in a post later this week). It is important to understand that all of these organizations do believe that scaling Roberts Stadium down to a mid-sized arena is the correct approach, and all organizations are interested in the facility in some capacity.

And according to all of these organizations, I am the first person to talk to them about Roberts Stadium. Therefore, we are blazing a new trail and designing a financial plan for Roberts Stadium that will allow this venerable old facility to remain solvent for years to come. That's what I am committed to doing at this hour and until the day I can no longer fight for Roberts Stadium.

Many years ago, Hank Roberts put his entire career on the line. Ralph Legeman spent many sleepless hours ( I can appreciate this) and in the end, they crafted a plan for an arena that would come to be known as Roberts Stadium. In the end, it cost Mayor Roberts his political career as mayor of Evansville, but he did it anyways because he wanted what's best for Evansville.

I am very fortunate and blessed to have a healthy body. I can walk, talk, breathe, and  I have no physical handicaps whatsoever. There are so many people in this community and in this world who are less privileged physically yet have given so much more to their community than I can ever do in a lifetime. The least I can do is fight for an arena that has served so many people throughout so many years including those who lost everything the day the Aces plane crashed. I am committed to representing all those who Roberts Stadium has served.

As for Mr. Warren and the ECVB, I just want to say, I have all the respect in the world for you which is 180 degrees from how I felt about David Dunn and the previous ECVB. But, the words of Nick Nolte in the film Blue Chips sums up my current words for you...

(Warning: Extreme Language, Viewers Discretion Is Advised)

Mr. Warren, it really is true, you can get through life and you can run the ECVB by recycling half-baked ideas from Dunn and Company all you want. You can chop up a plan that is nothing but 8 dull and boring ball fields into a plan that is even worse on a plot of land that ball fields have no business being on. You can advocate for this plan year in and year out even though it serves the least and hurts the most city residents.

But, YOU CANNOT AND YOU WILL NOT WIN LIKE THAT. By your own admissions, you admit that your plan is a regional plan not a national plan. I want to ask you these basic questions, and I challenge you to seriously consider each and every one of them.

(Note: I will post a response if I get one).

1. Do you believe that these fields belong at Kleymeyer Park which is directly across from Bosse Field where baseball history is as rich as it gets?

2. You have said earlier in previous discussions that this plot of land wasn't sufficient given that it's on a landfill and the previous ECVB has told you it won't work. Have you personally gone out to the site, had an engineer look at it, and/or talked to the people in the surrounding district about it? Or did you take this belief at face value from David Dunn who has overstated the condition of Roberts Stadium and is questioned by some local residents for having visitor estimates that are way too high?

3. If you still don't believe Kleymeyer Park is suitable, how do you explain these same scare tactics going on in Fresh Kills, NY (bottom: http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2012/02/apparently-dunn-hospitality-does.html) and how do you explain Mt. Trashmore in Virginia which was emailed to me today by SRS supporter Adam Williams?...

http://www.virginia.org/Listings/OutdoorsAndSports/MountTrashmorePark/

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

4. Given that Don Mattingly's youth baseball field is in Garvin Park, Bosse Field is the third oldest active ballpark, AND Bosse Field was the site of the film, " A League of Their Own," don't you believe that these fields should be constructed to represent vintage MLB ballparks?

5. If you don't, how do you explain Big League Dreams doing theirs taxpayer free?...

http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/replica-fields
http://www.bigleaguedreams.com/corporate/park-development

How do you explain Ripken Academy which is in Cal Ripken Jr's hometown of Aberdeen, Maryland and features ball fields that replicate Camden Yards, Wrigley Field, and many many more?

http://ripkentournaments.com/aberdeenfacilities.cfm

How do you explain Cooperstown, NY building by the Major League Baseball HOF and Dyersville, IA building by the site of the movie "Field of Dreams?"....

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/12/dyersville-iowa-aberdeen-maryland.html


6. A few weeks ago, you were excited about the GLVC Baseball Tournament coming to Bosse Field. You even estimated an economic impact of $800,000...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2012/02/apparently-dunn-hospitality-does.html

Given this belief, don't you think we should invest in the area around Bosse Field? Don't you think we should work with the Otters so that they can open their concession stands up on non-game days for youth baseball championship games?

7. If you do not believe we should invest in Bosse Field and the area around it, what really is your plan for the district? Do you support leaving it as is? Last week, I drove through the area and saw kids throwing rocks at an abandoned warehouse. Don't you think we should clean that up with our ball fields project?

8. Don't you think the economic impact for the ball fields at Kleymeyer is greater than if they were put in the county or on the Roberts Stadium lot which is land locked from the east side? Don't you think we should invest in North Main Street and our soon to be built downtown hotel which will get taxpayer subsidies?

9. As for Roberts Stadium, have you looked into the economic impact of mid-sized sports facilities and events such as Evansville Crush tournaments like the Hoosier Cup, USI preseason and postseason tournaments like the GLVC Tournament, and traveling BMX Tournaments that have netted as much as $10 million?

10. Don't you think it's bad for Evansville to be a one trick pony with Ford Center premier events only? Don't you think we should take the advice of the above sports organizations who believe a mid-sized arena is a great economic tool to have like so many other cities already have?

11. Don't you think a mid-sized events center, which brings in tourists by the 1,000s is a better investment than a green space that can already be found at the State Hospital Grounds?

12. Don't you think that a comprehensive plan which would be a long range master plan that would include green space in the back lot, a water park and natatorium with a renovated Hartke Pool, and a BMX only/ expo hall, along with a mid-sized Roberts Stadium is the only way that we can make everyone happy and diversify our investments into projects that will attract a wide array of tourists?

13. Wouldn't you say that the few thousand seats that would be removed in a Roberts Stadium renovation should be placed in the ball fields project?

And why do you want to put your plan on the backs of the Parks Dept?...

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

And how would your new growth forest with your ball fields work with Wesselman Park which is an old growth forest?

14. Wouldn't you say that an arena with only minor roof repairs, and floor in need of being raised is a good investment when initial estimates have pegged those renovations well under a million dollars?

15. Lastly, is your vision to be an ECVB Director that gets things going the right direction, maximizing project benefits, and listening to the people, or is your vision just to be David Dunn version 2.0?

Mr. Warren, I am rooting very hard for you to turn this around. Dang it, I'm here to win and win big time. I'm ready to get engineers looking at Kleymeyer Park, I'm ready to talk to the Otters about helping them out financially, and I'm ready to get the specs for 8 ball fields that would represent various MLB ballparks of the past. I'm ready to talk to Don Mattingly and Major League Baseball who have a deep history of working with these kinds of projects. I'm ready to revitalize an area that hasn't seen a single development project in years, yet continues to give us great things like the GLVC Baseball Tournament.

I'm also ready to put heads in beds by the thousands via a mid-sized Roberts Stadium. I'm ready to take advantage of the opportunity Mayor Winnecke has given me by taking Evansville to the next level. I sure hope you're in Mr. Warren.

In the meantime, THANK YOU Mayor Winnecke for standing up for an arena that I have put all of my heart, soul, and energy into these past 19 months.