EDITORIAL: Stadium group must approach difficult task with logic

Given the strong, divided feelings among Evansville citizens about the future of now-vacant Roberts Stadium, new Mayor Lloyd Winnecke made a wise decision in appointing a 15-member citizens task force to weigh the options and report back to him.

Of course, his announcement was no surprise; he promised during the election campaign to take such an approach after then-Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel said he would leave the fate of the legendary arena to the next city administration.

Weinzapfel had supported a proposal by the Evansville Convention & Visitors Bureau to level Roberts to make room for a baseball/softball complex, and do it at no cost to property taxpayers.

However, citizen protest about building a ball field complex so near Wesselman Woods convinced the convention bureau to back off, dropping Roberts back in the lap of city government and perhaps property taxpayers.

Roberts was left without purpose with the fall opening of the new Ford Center in Downtown Evansville.

The Ford Center was intended as a replacement for Roberts, and thus far has proved it is well up to that task. But still, a core of stadium supporters has insisted that it not be razed.

Regardless, it appears that the city has but two options.

One would be to level it, and use the property for some other purpose, perhaps a park adjacent to Wesselman Woods.

The other would be to sell it to someone with an interest in converting it to some other use. Some of the possibilities mentioned include indoor sports or amusements or perhaps an exhibition hall.

Alas, Roberts continues to have water problems, the result of lowering its floor during renovations in 1991 and tapping into an underground spring. Pumps are required to run constantly, even now, to keep the floor dry.

A report by Courier & Press staff writer Arek Sarkissian II on Friday reported that three months ago one of four pumps failed, and within 10 minutes, the floor was covered with water.

We can't imagine the city having any interest in going to the cost of raising the floor, given that it is now responsible for the Ford Center.

Those are issues to be discussed by the task force, which will study the condition of Roberts and the level of interest from anyone in assuming responsibility for the facility.

The task force includes an architect who previously was involved in the renovation of Roberts, a construction manager, two individuals interested in Wesselman Nature Preserve and Wesselman Park, a leading advocate for saving Roberts, and others with divergent interests.

Winnecke has said the group needs to decide if Roberts can be reinvented or reused, and if it can't be reused, what then to do next.

Task force chairman Larry Steenberg said he would attempt to keep emotion out of the deliberations, adding that he is aware the decisions should be made with logic.

That seems a good place to begin this difficult task.