Open Letter To The People Of Evansville

The other day, I posted an article on wkdq.com about the the three public meetings to be held about what should be done with Roberts Stadium. The first meeting was held last night at the Centre and the turnout was very light, only about 40 showed up. The 40 that were there, did make the meeting very productive and some very good, well thought out ideas were presented. It is disappointing that the turn out was so low for something that a lot more people have such strong feelings about.

I know we've done this before, public meetings to discuss what to do with Roberts Stadium, even before construction began on the Ford Center. The meetings in the past were well attended and it became clear that the people of Evansville cared about what the options for Roberts Stadium were. Nothing ever really came of those ideas...and now we do in fact have the Ford Center and Roberts Stadium is shut down and closed.

We have a new Mayor in Lloyd Winnecke and he has made it very clear that he wants to get the Roberts Stadium issue resolved quickly and in a way that is in the best interest of the city, which is why what is hopefully, the last round of public meetings are so important before something is finally decided on the stadium's fate.

These meetings are designed to give you a voice in what happens to Roberts Stadium and failure to attend those meetings essentially takes away your right to complain about what does ultimately happen. I know we have been down this road before, but now it's crunch-time. Since closing in September, Roberts has already racked up a $73,000 maintenance bill for just sitting there empty...something needs to be decided and right now.

I personally believe Roberts is going to be taken down and probably should come down, but there are some pretty good ideas on the table right now about how the facility could be utilized. Keep in mind that if the facility stays, it is in dire need of some work which could be costly. Is that  cost something that long term is worth it? I for one am not so sure.

I don't know what the right solution is, but I do know the time is now to figure it out. The remaining meetings might be your last chance to voice an opinion that nobody has considered or even thought of, which is why making your thoughts known is so important. If you are content to let someone else figure it out, that is more than ok, but if you have an opinion...let's hear it at one of the reamining meetings.

Roberts Stadium has served this community so well for so very long and we owe it to Roberts to give it our full attention and do what's right, for the facility, for the city and for us. Please......be heard.

Sincerely,

Jon Prell, WKDQ