A few weeks ago, I was talking with a prominent official in one of our two local parties about the prospects of placing 8 softball fields that replicate vintage MLB fields at Kleymeyer Park, which is my alternative to demolishing Roberts Stadium.
To recap, there already is a group that does this very thing. Take a look at their website and their ballparks: bigleaguedreams.com. If you click on the PARKS DEVELOPMENT tab you will notice they build this parks taxpayer free. They also maintain them taxpayer free.
While I can't guarantee you that this organization would come here to Evansville, I firmly believe that it makes sense for both the cities economics and layout. I believe that building 8 fields to replicate Tiger Stadium, Yankee Stadium, Ebbets Field, The Polo Grounds, Crosley Field, Wrigley Field, Sportsman's Park, and Fenway Park on the Kleymeyer Park grounds will allow us to connect the park to Garvin Park where the championship games could be played at historic Bosse Field.
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2010/11/saving-history-by-bringing-back-history.html
As I was talking to this official, he said, " I can tell you right now there will be no baseball fields at Kleymeyer Park." I reminded him that there are already 3 fields on the site and then asked him why the site is not a good idea. He replied by saying that the site was formally a dump. Nobody would want to go there because it would smell, you couldn't put anything in the ground, and there is debris from the dump on the site which isn't a good area for baseball. He also said that this current problem exists with Motoux Park on St. Joseph Avenue.
For those of you who visit this site frequently, you know that I have talked about the fact that Kleymeyer Park is a formal dump is a good thing not a bad thing. Kleymeyer Park produces methane gas which we can convert to electricity. In the following post, I talked about the program the EPA has for dealing with this...
http://saverobertsstadium.blogspot.com/2010/11/red-rover-red-rover-please-send-epa-on.html
The reason why I believe that the methane gas would be a positive for Kleymeyer Park is because this procedure is already done at Motoux Park (which the official talked about). This official also said that parents were pulling their kids left and right from Motoux Park because the smell from the old dump was just too unbearable. In an effort to seek the truth, I decided to pay Kleymeyer and Motoux Park's a visit today.
First, I started with Motoux Park (click on images to enlarge)...
Today was a perfect day to pay Motoux Park a visit. The weather was good and it would be easy to smell anything from the dump if it was possible.
Upon entering Motoux Park, you will be able to see, clear as day, the methane gas pumps all around the site hard at work. These pumps convert methane gas to electricity (as the EPA post I did above says)...
While some of these pumps were off to the side, there were also some in the middle of the soccer fields....
But what about the smell? To check for this wild, unbearable smell, I sniffed high...
I sniffed low...
I sniffed everywhere...
NOTHING! No smell whatsoever! In fact, I would like to thank the Evansville Parks Department for doing such a good job keeping Motoux Park clean and safe. Although the recent complaints by local residents about the Parks Department may be valid, we also need to thank them when they do good a job with our parks. Here are some other great photos of Motoux Park...
Well done Parks Department. But what does Kleymeyer Park look like? Are there any land obstacles that would prohibit 8 ball fields? Is the smell too bad for people to walk on the Kleymeyer Park land? I decided to head to Kleymeyer Park next...
Overall, the front entrance looks decent at Kleymeyer Park, but it is the back part of the park that is in bad shape. Interestingly enough, there are already 3 ball fields on the site and there's also this cool pyramid building (reminds me of the Memphis Pyramid)...
There's also a cool canopy which has some nice architectural flare to it...
If we are ever able to convince city hall to build the ball fields at Kleymeyer, I'd like for them to incorporate those two structures into the plan!
Once more, to seek out this toxic, unbearable, overwhelming, and unsustainable smell, I sniffed high...
I sniffed low...
I sniffed all over the park...
Just like Motoux Park, NOTHING! You can not see, smell, or touch the underground landfill anywhere on the site!
Unfortunately, we will need to clean up Kleymeyer Park from the trash and neglect it has collected from the current batch of vandals, polluters, and park officials who have refused to keep the park in a presentable fashion. These people have gotten away with it for quite a few years lately...
Luckily, we can fix all the damage that has been done recently. We can remove the trash that has been dumped, we can level the dirt mounds that have been overgrown for many years, and we can clear out the weeds that block the awesome view Kleymeyer Park has of Pigeon Creek.
In fact, Mayor Lloyd Jr. wanted to connect Kleymeyer Park with Garvin Park in 2002. He commissioned a study to be done on the area with 13 projects recommended for the area. The 13th idea was to build a bridge from Kleymeyer Park to Garvin Park. If our city truly wants to grow this area, we must connect the two parks with a greenway, a bridge, and hopefully 8 fields that replicate vintage MLB ballparks.
Here is a video I made for this project...
http://www.watchevansville.com/play/NonProfits_and_Activisim/Save_Roberts_Stadium_Build__Kleymeyer_Park
We have great potential with Kleymeyer Park, and for that reason I am asking you the viewers of this blog to take the Kleymeyer Park sniff challenge. When you get some free time, go to Kleymeyer Park (and Motoux Park if you want too) and take a look around and take a sniff around. Then, answer these simple questions...
1. Did you see any debris that can be traced back to the old 1950's landfill?
2. Did you smell anything that can be traced back to the old 1950's landfill?
3. Did you see plenty of trash and debris from today's generation that needs to be removed immediately?
4. Do you believe that building 8 vintage MLB style ball fields on the site with a connecting bridge to Garvin Park and Bosse Field is much better than building 8 dull and boring ball fields on the historic Roberts Stadium site?
If you would like, you can send me your answers (JordanBaer1@gmail.com), and I will publish them with your name.
It's time that we took the ball fields project and Kleymeyer Park seriously.
TAKE THE KLEYMEYER PARK SNIFF CHALLENGE!
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