Although you won't find them in large packs like you do those who support saving Roberts Stadium, every part of town still has them. They are the people who have been fooled into thinking that Roberts Stadium is beyond repair and have blindly supported the belief that the lot should be nothing but a green space.
A typical conversation with one of these people goes like this...
Do you have a cost estimate for your project?
No
Can you tell us how a green space would make money for the city?
No
Can you tell us how you would blend your new growth forest with Wesselman's old growth forest without destroying the nature preserve?
No
Can you tell us why its a good idea to saddle the Evansville Parks Dept with yet another green space/ park when they have admitted that they don't have the resources for our current parks and green spaces?
No
Would your green space be any different than the State Hospital Grounds?
No
Can you tell us why we should even remotely consider demolishing Roberts Stadium for a green space?
Well, it would look pretty.
I've always said the bureacrats who have led the charge to demolish Roberts Stadium have preyed upon the lazy and the dumb. They have targeted those types of people because they know they wouldn't get too far once the truth came out about Roberts Stadium. Unfortunately for them, the truth about Roberts Stadium is now out and their supporters are running for the hills.
Besides seeking the lazy and the dumb, those who want to knock this building down have sought the greedy as well. These people don't care about what Roberts Stadium means to the vast majority of residents living in Evansville, they don't about activities other groups would like to bring to Evansville, and they certainly aren't interested in designing their green space around Roberts Stadium. No, they have to have the whole lot.
Earlier, I talked about the state that our current parks are in...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/12/as-our-parks-crumble-demolition.html
I also talked about the lack of adequate funding our Parks Dept. is dealing with...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/i-call-to-stand-evansville-parks.html
Given the facts that our Parks Dept has no money and our parks are in shambles as is, it really begs the question...
Is A New Park On The Roberts Stadium Lot Allowed To Compete With Our Other Parks?
Our city leaders from the previous administration went head over heels to do everything they can to fight Roberts Stadium because they believe that it will compete with the Ford Center. Yet just this week, I talked to SMG AND Venuworks and NEITHER shared that theory. In fact, the main concern both had was the city getting in their way of successfully coordinating Roberts Stadium and the Ford Center's schedules.
At the same time our city leaders had Roberts Stadium-Ford Center Competition Paranoia, they did nothing, and I mean nothing, to protect our current existing parks. If they truly cared about improving our parks, there wouldn't even be a green space committee on our Roberts Stadium Task Force. This begs the following questions...
1. Why is the ECVB hellbent on building their ball fields on either the Roberts Stadium lot or out in the county when we have an existing park, Kleymeyer Park, that already has 3 ball fields, is a better location for baseball, and is in an area that desperately needs urban renewal?
2. Why do we have citizens walking around with renderings, drawings, and layouts of green space and parks on the Roberts Stadium lot, yet we have next to zero citizens doing this for our existing parks that need the attention the most? Some even claim they have support from various people in the Parks Dept- the same people who have told us there is no money to clean up our existing parks.
3. Why do those who support putting a green space on the Roberts Stadium lot refuse to incorporate Roberts Stadium into their plan? After all, the back lot is over 150% the size of Roberts Stadium. There's no way the two could co-exist?
4. If our city is in such good shape that we can afford to put a green space and/or park on the Roberts Stadium lot, why did our city let the current parks fall into such disrepair that they became a hot topic during last year's mayoral race?
5. Even if a green space brings in enough donations and sponsors to keep it self-sustainable for the short term, why aren't we putting these funds towards fixing up parks like Garvin, Sunset, Vann, and Burdette? In fact, when are we ever going to address our current parks before we take on new capital improvement projects that consist of new parks and green spaces?
The bottom line is this, the vast majority of those who want nothing but a green space on the Roberts Stadium lot don't really care about our green spaces and parks. Rather, there's the potential for a new toy and they want to be the ones who get it. We've seen this time after time in our cities history...
- Our sewer system is crumbling? Who cares, we'll expand the city limits and put more sewer lines out in the county.
- We don't have enough funds to build our 2001 downtown master plan? Who cares, we'll expand Green River Road to the tune of $25 million.
- US 41 is a mess? Who cares, we'll build an entirely new interstate on the far east side.
- Can't afford to run our government without funds from Aztar? Who cares, we'll annex areas in the county and call it "expansion."
At some point in time, enough has to be enough. Before we take on any more urban sprawl, any more projects that don't compliment our existing assets, and any more government services, we need to address what we have first.
I've been saying it loud and clear, it does not have to be Roberts Stadium vs a green space. In fact, Roberts Stadium, if utilized correctly, will HELP existing green spaces as well as our other city assets. How is this possible?
1. Using the funds generated from a mid-sized Roberts Stadium, we can construct a green space, park, and lake in the back lot which can connect to Wesselman Woods and enhance the existing park space we already have...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2012/02/lets-dive-into-park-green-space-lake.html
2. We can take the seats that would be removed during renovations to Roberts Stadium and give them to the ECVB who would use them in their ball fields project at Kleymeyer Park. This would reduce the construction costs for the ball fields while enhancing an existing ball field park and the Ford Center which would be right down Main Street...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/11/for-evcb-city-hall-roberts-stadium-will.html
3. Roberts Stadium will draw tourists into town who will also purchase tickets to Ford Center events. I talked to Mr. Scott Schoenike, director of the Ford Center, about this this past week ( I talked to Sandie Aaron of SMG the previous week). Along as we coordinate this correctly (we shouldn't schedule similar events at the same time), we will be giving tourists a reason to come to Evansville as they will have multiple, not just one, thing to do while they are here. Guests could even park at Roberts Stadium and ride the shuttle bus down to the Ford Center.
4. Not only will renovating Roberts Stadium bring in an enormous amount of tourists via events like the GLVC Tournament, USI preseason tournaments, NBDL basketball, Evansville Rage indoor football, Evansville Crush Indoor Soccer & traveling tournaments like the Hoosier Cup, etc,etc, we will also be avoiding the vast majority of the Innkeepers Tax which would still be intact for the ball fields. Roberts Stadium will avoid the Innkeepers Tax for the most part, cheapen the construction costs of the ball fields, and bring in tourists who will fill the coffers of the Innkeepers Tax.
Over the next few months, we will truly see just how good our government really is. If we play this right, we will be...
1. Improving existing parks and green spaces
2. Utilizing minimal taxpayer dollars
3. Increasing the Innkeepers Tax and city revenue drastically
4. Improving all sides of town.
That is why the decision to keep Roberts Stadium is an easy one yet a big one at the same time. If our city leaders truly care about our city, they will say no another green space and YES to Kleymeyer Park and Roberts Stadium.
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