Will The Parks Board Research What The Mayor Didn't Tell Them?

chimovement.com

On a day when the mayor has already moved onto yet another one of his "public input" ideas...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/jun/07/no-headline---ev_robertsfolo/

The Parks Department has been left in the dark by the mayor on all aspects of Roberts Stadium. Last Wednesday, we did not hear from the mayor the following things...

1. Did he talk to SMG and Venuworks? If so, did they change their opinion that Roberts Stadium would compete with the Ford Center? Did he ask them if they would be interested in managing a mid-sized Roberts Stadium? Did they tell him how many events they could place in the facility?

2. Why does the mayor believe that spending $6-8 million on a wide variety of green space projects already found in the city that generate no revenue is better than renovating Roberts Stadium for $4-4.5 million which was popular with a lot of revenue drawing tenants?

3. The mayor said he wanted to make a financial and data driven decision. Does he have a balance sheet explaining how his plan will bring in revenues that are higher than expenses (or just break-even)? Does he even have an estimate for maintenance on this land?

4. Last year, Dr. Troost appeared in front of the Parks Board in an effort to convince them to improve existing parks...

http://city-countyobserver.com/2011/02/02/4857/

He got several responses from Mr. Steve Bohleber including the following...

“things are tough all over america”

“money is tight”

“we dont have control over the budget”

Does the mayor believe that the city is now in a better position to build yet another green space? Has he addressed all concerns with our local parks? Does he believe that using these funds on "Roberts Park" are a better use of taxpayer dollars than using them on existing parks?

5. How much effort did the mayor genuinely give in researching the idea of converting Roberts Stadium into a dual mid-sized arena/expo hall? According to the Courier & Press, Lloyd visited two cities- Louisville, Kentucky & Columbus, Ohio...

http://www.courierpress.com/news/2012/jun/06/winnecke-will-turn-roberts-stadium-green-space/

Yet, there have been zero reports that Lloyd toured Freedom Hall in Louisville- an arena that has been "replaced" by the KFC Yum! Center, yet still functions today as host to mid-sized events and expo events even with the city having both the KFC Yum! Center AND the Kentucky International Convention Center in Downtown Louisville? Did Lloyd ask the city if Freedom Hall is competing with either of these venues? Did Lloyd ask the city about the wide arrange of tenants and events that still use Freedom Hall?

Louisville also has

- Jefferson County Armory/Louisville Gardens (hosted Louisville men's basketball from 1945-1972)

There have also been zero reports that Lloyd investigated the multiple arena setup in Columbus, Ohio either. Columbus has 2 "sister arenas" just like Louisville. They have...

- Nationwide Arena
-Value City Arena

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

"Prior to July 1, 2010, one of Value City Arena's major event competitors was the downtown Nationwide Arena, which opened in 2000 and is home to the NHL's Columbus Blue Jackets. In May 2010, the Blue Jackets and OSU signed a one-year, annually renewable, agreement to turn over day to day operations and non-athletic event booking of Nationwide Arena to OSU, effective July 1, 2010.This agreement puts both arenas under the same management and makes the facilities sister venues."

The city also has...

- St. John Arena
- OSU Ice Arena
-  Ohio Expo Center Coliseum (built in 1918, renovated in 2005)
- Columbus Convention Center

That's right, Columbus has NEVER demolished any arena the Ohio State University men's basketball team has played in (the team will be 94 years old this year). Did Lloyd look at ANY of these facilities?

Did Lloyd contact any of the current mid-sized teams in Evansville? Did he ask them if they would be interested in playing at Roberts Stadium? I have talked to multiple teams (4), none of them said the mayor talked to them.

6. The mayor NEVER proved or removed the infamous page 13 from the report. Like I said yesterday, the mayor identified 2 of the 3 points in this inaccurate page on the day he released the report to the media. He said that the idea that it was cheaper to build a new arena than to renovate Roberts Stadium stood out to him. He NEVER explained how you can build a new Roberts Stadium for the $4-4.5 million it is estimated to cost to renovate Roberts Stadium.

He also said that the idea of "something for everyone" stood out to him. Like the other point, this was never agreed upon by the task force to be a general theme. Rather, the only time it was mentioned was by the green space committee. As I've said before, Mr. Greg Stilwell took a poll of ALL of the residents who toured Roberts Stadium and then came to the next meeting. 25 out of 28 said they viewed Roberts Stadium favorably. Did the mayor find 25 out of 28 people who said they wanted "something for everyone" meeting they wanted a green space only?

The mayor never explained page 13 but allowed it to remain in the report. Why?



I also feel like it's important for the Parks Board, as well as the city in general, to understand the following facts...

- With a mid-sized arena the expensive pumps will be gone. These pumps are supposedly the reason for the city claiming the arena is too expensive to maintain, yet these pumps would be gone anyways during renovations. Those who are worried about Roberts being expensive would be satisfied with a renovation anyways.

- With a mid-sized arena we can still build a green space in the back lot. This lot is roughly the same size as the old airport lot which is scheduled to be a green space. Back in February, I talked to the Evansville Trails Coalition, I wanted them to know that I am not against a green space in general, just on the footprint of Roberts Stadium itself.

- With a mid-sized arena, we will still have 5,000-7,000 seats to flex to Mesker or an ECVB ball field plan. I wish I would have never recommended that to the mayor but now that he has used the idea, I feel that it's important for the public to understand that this can still be done with a Roberts Stadium renovation.

- With a mid-sized arena, the city will be committing significantly less public funds to a project that brings in revenue instead of only accumulating expenses like the green space.

Our city is at a crossroads, and as we've seen the mayor do with his deal with Earthcare, renovating Lloyd Pool, and failing to fight for the Homestead Tax Credit, he is now trying to send us down the wrong path once more.

I urge the Parks Board to take their decision very seriously. I ask that they make their decision based on their head and their conscience and not on what the group thinks. I ask that the Parks Board ask the mayor some very serious questions and demand a serious amount of answers from him about his proposal before they decide to proceed!

askdrjack.com