Winnecke Says One Thing For Consolidation, Another For Roberts Stadium

http://griffingrype.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/double-standard-390x250.jpg

Breaking News: Lloyd Winnecke is holding Roberts Stadium up to a double standard. Ok, it really isn't breaking news, but it's definitely news that is proving to be sustainable. Whether it be financial data, public support, or even a few banners and road signs, Lloyd Winnecke has NEVER given Roberts Stadium a fair chance. I know, I know, we had that wonderful task force that evaluated all ideas given right? Well, not exactly.

Today's Winnecke double standard takes us to the land of consolidation where it appears once more that Roberts Stadium isn't being placed on the same scale as a project that Winnecke supports.

This is what we heard from Lloyd about consolidation...

(Note: bolding has been added by me)

http://www.yesforunification.com/key-support/

“After serving in county government and now as Mayor of Evansville, I am convinced that unified city-county government would provide taxpayers with more efficient and representative government. Regardless of political affiliation, my peers in Indianapolis, Nashville and Louisville all agree that unified city-county government was the catalyst for progress in their communities. It’s an idea whose time has come for Evansville-Vanderburgh County.”

This is what we heard from Lloyd about Roberts Stadium...

http://m.courierpress.com/news/2012/jul/23/lawsuit-seeks-block-demolition-roberts-stadium/

“I don’t think the city is large enough to sustain three competing facilities,” said Winnecke, referring to the Ford Center, The Centre and Roberts.

Although these two comments may appear to be light years off on the surface, if you take a closer look, you will notice that these two statements are held to two different standards despite the fact that they can be measured on the same level. How is this possible?

You see, Lloyd Winnecke is telling us that the Evansville market should support consolidation because Indianapolis, Nashville, and Louisville all did it. But when it comes to Roberts Stadium, we don't hear a peep about those three cities. All we hear is that it is his opinion that Evansville can't handle three venues that he believes will compete, a view not shared by SMG or Venuworks when I reached out to them during my time on the task force.

Given that Winnecke believes Indy, Nashville, and Louisville are fair game for consolidation, let's take a look at how these three cities are handling multiple venues...

Indianapolis

Image of Pepsi Coliseum courtesy of in.gov

Most supporters of demolishing Roberts Stadium don't want you to hear about the Pepsi Coliseum. They only want you to hear about how Indianapolis demolished the RCA Dome (in debt at the time of demolition and replaced by a convention center that was capable of going in the old dome) and Market Square Arena (was originally suppose to be a mixed-use development but the project failed so badly that the site is still a gravel parking lot today).

Last year, I talked about all of the great things Indianapolis is doing with Bush Stadium being the best...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/07/as-indianapolis-progresses-evansville.html

But when it comes to scaling Roberts Stadium down to a mid-sized arena, there is no better comparison than what Indianapolis is doing with their Pepsi Coliseum...

http://www.wthr.com/story/16506213/state-fair-approves-38m-pepsi-coliseum-renovation

--- The Indiana State Fair Commission says it's time to rehab the 70-year-old Pepsi Coliseum. It means the building will soon shut its doors to undergo a transformation.

--- This fall, the doors will close for construction, meaning a loss of half a million dollars. In 2014, when the renovated facility opens for the fair's headline concert, it's likely to be a much smaller affair. The facility will only seat up to 9,000.

Note: Roberts Stadium would only seat between 4,500 to 5,000 seats (not Indy's 9,000 because we are a smaller market) if scaled down.

--- "In this market an 8,000- to 9,000-seat venue is perfect. We're not in the business of competing with the other venues. What we're in the business to do is to restore this product. It's an $89 million economic impact," said Hoye.

--- There will be no suites or club level. It's just a historic Indiana landmark being brought up to code, and as some put it, getting the "queen" of the fairgrounds in good operating condition for the future.


Nashville

eventful.com

Like Indianapolis, Nashville has two arenas as well (both have convention centers similar to the Centre as well). What is most unique about Nashville's situation is that both of their arenas- Nashville Municipal Auditorium and Bridgestone Arena, are comparable in size yet don't have a "non-compete" clause in their contracts.

I talked about Nashville's situation last year as well...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2011/07/nashville-did-right-thing.html

Nashville's Municipal Auditorium sets a good example for Evansville...

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

--- Having served the greater Nashville area with many diverse events for 50 years, today the Auditorium is a popular venue in Nashville for major touring family shows, such as Sesame Street Live, The Wiggles, The Doodlebops, Barney, Bob the Builder,Disney Live, Harlem Globetrotters, and the annual Al Menah Temple Shrine Circus.

--- The venue continues to serve niche concert markets, such as alternative rock, rock 'n' roll, heavy metal, pop, R&B, urban, oldies and Hispanic concerts.

Louisville

uoflsports.com

By far and away, Louisville, Kentukcy has the most impressive alignment of sports venues with legendary Freedom Hall, the KFC Yum! Center, the State Fair & Expo ground, as well as the International Convention Center. Like Roberts Stadium, Freedom Hall opened up in 1956 and has had its floor lowered during renovations.

When the newly constructed KFC Yum! Center opened, many thought that Freedom Hall would have to be demolished due to its main tenant the Louisville Cardinals moving out. That simply wasn't the case as Freedom Hall still stands today...

http://www.wdrb.com/global/story.asp?s=12066448

---It opened in 1956 at the time it was a state of the art venue. Don't expect demolition or one of those implosions like the vet in Philadelphia or an outdated office building in a major city.

--- "The new arena is going to be great, they're going to enjoy that, but you know, freedom hall is just a wonderful facility," said Harold Workman, Kentucky State Fair Board.

--- "We still have well over 100 events that happen there, and those dates are going to be very good for a lot of the various concerts and things like trade shows that have not been able to get in there," said Harold Workman, Kentucky State Fair Board.

--- Concert promoters are already looking at Freedom Hall, because Workman says it will be a lot cheaper to rent and said an event that would cost $12,000 at Freedom Hall, will cost you $35,000 at the new downtown arena.

Of course, demolition supporters are going to argue that all three of the above situations are irrelevant given that they are in a much larger market than us. As usual, they are failing to interpret the comparisons in the correct manner. 

First of all, we shouldn't look at the above three examples by the market size, rather we should look at the three examples by how they are coordinating their three facilities. Can we coordinate Roberts Stadium with the Ford Center like the above three cities are doing with their two arenas even though we live in a smaller city? The answer to that question is yes! In fact, Sioux Falls, Grand Forks, Grand Rapids, Wichita, and a host of other cities have done this already!

Now let me ask you this: Should Evansville not have roads, sidewalks, schools, and all kinds of other perks that the above three cities have because we are not as big as them? Your answer should be, yes of course we should have those perks but they should be built to the Evansville scale instead of the Indy, Nashville, and Louisville scale.

That is exactly what we would be doing if we scaled Roberts Stadium all the way down to a 4,500 to 5,000 seat venue. It would be the proper amount of seating for mid-sized concerts, indoor soccer games and tournaments, indoor football, high school basketball games and tournaments, trade shows, etc. etc. All of these events are either already in Evansville, already have been in Evansville, or are looking to get into the Evansville market.

So if Lloyd Winnecke thinks that we need to vote YES! for consolidation, shouldn't he be saying we do the same thing for Roberts Stadium?