UE Is Going To Spend 4 Times More On A Building Older Than Roberts

Photo Credit: University of Evansville

For those who haven't figured out how ridiculous it is to claim that Roberts Stadium is beyond repair, too costly to repair, or cheaper to build from scratch, the price tags on various capital improvement projects around the city are giving these naysayers a clear view of just how reasonable a Roberts Stadium renovation is.

A few weeks ago, the Courier & Press said the following..

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/may/02/roberts-reports-doesnt-give-us-much-optimism/

"Even if the report released by the Roberts Stadium Task Force came with no estimates on the costs of various options, most citizens who care could figure out for themselves that with the stadium leaking underground water and in need of a new air handling system, it would cost a bunch of money to bring it into operating shape."

First of all, we do have an estimate for renovations to Roberts Stadium and it can be found on page 9 of the Roberts Stadium Task Force Report...

http://media.courierpress.com/media/static/Roberts_report.pdf

"The estimated investment cost for this facility is $4,000,000 to $4,500,000."

Not only is this estimate 1/3rd the price of the green space proposal, most of this estimate is for renovating the facility into a mid-sized arena, not just repairing it. Yes, we will need to do a little work on the roof and bathrooms, but most of what we need to do is renovations like raising the floor, demolishing the precast concrete above street level, and painting the building to make it a mid-sized arena.

But even with all of these costs, which can be easily recouped through year-round events, the price tag to renovate Roberts Stadium is still comparable to other facilities. Currently, we have 2 renovations and construction of a brand new complex inside the Evansville city limits that are showing us just how good we got it with Roberts Stadium.

The first project is the renovations to the Casino Aztar hotel that made the C&P today...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/may/16/aztar-hed-here-and-herppppp/

The hotel is only a few years younger than the renovations to Roberts Stadium (4 years to be exact). So wouldn't this project be cheaper than renovating Roberts Stadium? Isn't it time to consider demolishing this hotel and build a new one on the lot?

The answer to those questions is no. By the end of this year, Casino Aztar will have spent $5 million renovating the hotel, a whole $500,000 to $1,000,000 more than the estimate to renovate Roberts Stadium.

The other two capital improvement projects can be found on the campus of the University of Evansville where change, progress, and vision can all be found.

If you drive through the heart of UE's campus, you will already see that construction is well underway on the Ace's new practice facility...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/mar/14/no-headline---ev_ueplan/

For the $3.3 million, which is roughly 3/4ths the cost of renovating Roberts Stadium, are the Aces getting a facility that is even close to the size of Roberts Stadium? No, the facility is only 25,000 square feet. Roberts Stadium's meeting rooms are 4,500 square feet alone...

 http://www.visitevansville.com/sites/default/files/ECVB%20Meetings%20&%20Conventions%20Facilities%20Roberts%20Stadium.pdf

With this facility, will the Aces have a huge 5,000 seat arena to play games in? No, this facility is only set up for practice..... not a game.... not a game.... practice!!!

Although both of these facilities are great facilities that will serve Evansville well for many, many years, there is one facility that sums up best why we should renovate Roberts Stadium. Ironically enough, this facility was DIRECTLY REPLACED by Roberts Stadium in 1956. What facility am I talking about? It is none other than the Old National Guard Armory.


The amazing thing to me about this whole Roberts Stadium dilemma is that those who want to tear this building down have claimed over and over that it is too old to function. Yet, the two facilities that were directly replaced by Roberts Stadium STILL EXIST today and are in no danger of being replaced.

If you take a close look at the Old National Guard Armory, you will see that it is in a condition that is worse than Roberts...

So is UE going to tear down this historic icon? Are they going to implode the building that started Aces basketball? Do they believe that it is too old to continue?

The answer to those questions, like the ones before, is no. The University of Evansville is going to renovate the building into a performing arts center and they are going to do it at a price that is OVER FOUR TIMES THE PRICE TO RENOVATE ROBERTS!....

Even more ironic is the fact that there is a green space right outside the building...

If our city ends up demolishing a building that dwarfs the size of the Old National Guard Armory for a fraction of the price tag to renovate the Old National Guard Armory, it will be a strong signal from our city leaders that they don't share the same vision that our private university or our private casino share.

It is pretty clear that UE understands the value of historic buildings. It is also pretty clear that they understand how to invest in these buildings. Neither their practice facility nor their armory will ever bring in the amount of revenue that a mid-sized Roberts Stadium would bring in. Yet, UE is still going ahead with their capital improvement projects because they understand the value these facilities bring to their university.

There's no question that UE has a great vision. The real question is: Does our city leaders?