Will Evansville Be Left Behind Those Empty Walls?

Now that demolition has officially begun on Roberts Stadium, it's time to do once more what I was hoping I wouldn't ever have to do- sign off on the efforts to save Roberts Stadium. It seems like just yesterday when I began this blog, but in reality it has been over 2 years since the first post in early September of 2010.

Truthfully, I have very mixed feelings about these past two years. On the positive side, I'm VERY thankful for all of the people I have met because of this big brown building. As someone who seeks to build their career and life around the development of sports venues, I have always championed the idea that cities aren't just building arenas when they construct them. Rather, they are building neighborhoods, businesses, and most importantly, they are improving relations throughout their city between both their residents and residents of other cities. I am proud of what every single arena, ballpark, and stadium has accomplished both in the U.S as well as around the world.

Many people think you just look at the bottom line when you build an arena. Despite it being profitable, Roberts Stadium has proven that theory wrong. Roberts Stadium wasn't just an arena, it was a way of life, and to those of you who have gotten involved in all of the multiple battles to save Roberts Stadium I say thank you.

By far and away the comment that has meant the most to me happened when a supporter of this blog called me and told me that she had been called by Carol McClintock, wife of the man they say is mayor of Evansville. In her failed attempt to convert this member to the side of demolition, she admitted to this supporter that, " BOTH DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS WERE FIGHTING THE DEMOLITION OF ROBERTS STADIUM."

These past few years, many people have tried to make Roberts Stadium nothing but a political issue. They've  pointed fingers and used this iconic arena like it was built just for them to use it as prop for their political career. Little did they know, Roberts Stadium wasn't Democrat Blue nor was it Republican Red, it was Roberts Stadium Brown and Texas Burnt Orange with a hint of yellow insulation and gray bricks beneath it.

With all of that being said, I must point out the negatives of these past few years because quite frankly I am appalled by the many disgusting things that have happened and I believe they should be called out.

I'll start off by saying this: I have always thought our community was one of the top cities when it came to giving. For many years we've outnumbered almost any city when it came to churches, veteran's organizations, and just plain ole great American groups like the West Side Nut Club. Don't get me wrong, we still have most, if not all, of the groups we've always had like that, but I am now of the mind that their generosity is being overshadowed by a fairly large number of residents and organizations who are out to help only themselves.

As a community leader, Roberts Stadium was also instrumental in showing the true colors of a lot of individuals and groups here in Evansville. When I started this blog, I never imagined in a million years just how many people would be hellbent on destroying this arena at all costs. Thankfully, the one successful thing to come out of this movement has been the showing of those who don't care about Evansville.

The reason why I say that is because I find it to be nothing short of disgusting the way some have treated Roberts Stadium. We saw the Building Authority director go out of his way to point at little micro dents, dings, and leaks around the arena as well as round up a company to remove the parking lot for free, but we never saw him try to show the real Roberts Stadium to any one in the community who was interested in trying to save it unless he was told to, nor did we see him disclose to the public that he had been approached by several people wanting to rent the parking lot which would have helped stabilize the arena.

We never saw UE lift one finger to help save Roberts Stadium. They had several donors and supporters like the great Jerry Sloan, Larry Humes, and Scott Hafner in their cupboard yet they NEVER gave one ounce of energy towards fighting for the building that was there for them when they were at their lowest point. And not only did they refuse to fight for Roberts Stadium, they also made sure they milked it for everything it was worth. They talked about how great of a facility it was when they were trying to sell tickets to their last game there. And then, when everything was said and done, they were first in line to have the mayor hand them free bricks from Roberts Stadium.

We also never heard from any of our so called "business leaders" or "political leaders" when it came time to stand behind Roberts Stadium. Groups like the ECVB, the Southwestern Indiana Chamber of Commerce, GAGE, and many other union, business, and government agencies are ALWAYS asking for the community to help them. Yet, none of these organizations gave a damn about one of Evansville's main buildings. Why was this? Because they simply didn't want to put out any effort to fight for anything that didn't help them personally.

I am truly disgusted in the actions of all of the above groups.

The last thing that I would like to say that I am very disappointed in was both the performance of the Evansville City Council and Mayor Lloyd Winnecke. The council flip flopped in every direction they could so that they could approve demolition funds without making it look they were wanting to demolish it. They used it to get elected, and then they used it as a way of telling the in crowd at the civic center that they were on their side so that they wouldn't be prevented from furthering their careers. Although they are appointed and not elected, the Evansville Parks Board embodies this same mentality.

And then there's Lloyd Winnecke. Words cannot express how completely disappointed I am at the way he handled this situation. For those of you who followed this blog frequently, you will recall that I asked you to support him when he was elected and rally behind him when he assembled the task force that I was a member of. I was also one of the few, if not only, task force member to publicly thank him for forming the task force at our first meeting. I generally thought he cared about Roberts Stadium and was interested in what I was trying to accomplish.

Yes, I feel like an idiot for believing that Winnecke cared but I'll tell you why I  took the bait. I had known Winnecke through this Roberts Stadium project for over a year and change before he became mayor. Every time I saw him, whether it was at his office discussing Roberts Stadium, or helping film Newsmakers for which he was a guest a few times on he was always nice and made sure he gave me the impression that he cared.

When I met with him in November of last year for the final time before the task force was assembled, he was unable to rebute any of my solutions, saying only, " Well I'll look at it and if someone can convince me I'll think about it." He never could explain why both SMG and Venuworks believed that Roberts and the Ford Center would not compete, he never could explain how the three tenants, college and high school basketball games, the disaster relief area, and all the rest of those interested in Roberts Stadium could somehow someway be jammed into an expensive and already filled Ford Center.

So when he told me out in the back 40 parking lot after the IURC meeting over the proposed Vectren rate hike last December that he would be putting me on the committee, I was excited and I genuinely thought he was going to actually give a damn. But just months later, everything changed. A false page was added after the final task force meeting that claimed it was cheaper to build a new arena than to renovate the current Roberts Stadium.

And when I told the C&P that that was false after they called me, I received a phone call from city hall. I knew on that day that Roberts Stadium was going to be demolished. And at that moment, I was in complete shock that the city had tried to use me and my efforts to save Roberts Stadium in such a blatant way, but they did and I will never trust any city government branch again when I work on other projects.

So now, due to the actions of all the above groups, we are left with nothing but empty walls at 2600 Division Street.

And for those who will argue that this was a once in a lifetime battle, think again. The main problem with Roberts Stadium was that some other government organization wanted it and many organizations who could care less about urban planning using the whole area and not just the arena itself. Wesselman Woods and Nature Center just had to have the Roberts Stadium lot. And guess how much resistance the Parks Board put up to this notion? You guessed it, zero. Even though a mid-sized Roberts Stadium left plenty of room for a green space in the back lot the size of the one being constructed at the old airport, and even though the BMX supporters could have gotten their skate board only facility attached to Swonder while hosting BMX tournaments inside Roberts while those who wanted a natatorium could build on the Hartke Pool lot with a new pool, every single one of these groups just had to have Roberts Stadium. In Portland, Oregon, we saw how all of these groups won when they came together with their Memorial Coliseum...

http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2012/01/we-can-learn-lot-from-portland-oregon.html

But here in Evansville, you just won't see that type of planning with that many interested groups. No, everything everywhere will have to be a "winner take all" format. With Roberts Stadium only partially demolished, we are already seeing what battles still linger. Currently, the future of Mesker Amphitheatre, Old North High School Gymnasium (designed by Ralph Legeman as well), and the McCurdy Hotel all still have question marks in their future. None of these landmarks are still going off of the original plan to restore them.

Now that most of the shell of Roberts Stadium on the eastern side has been removed from the arena, a new question begs to be asked: Will you, I, and the city of Evansville be left behind those empty walls?