Take That: June 29, 2011 SPECIAL WEDNESDAY EDITION

1. Five years ago I would have been totally against this proposal. But I have learned to respect the ECTA – they offer free tennis lessons to everyone and anyone every saturday morning. They have maintained the tennis courts and built the building ever since they leased the grounds from the parks department. The city/county have not put a dime in for referees, maintaining the building, maintaining the tennis courts etc since the ECTA has taken over. This is not the case with the soccer fileds, the ball parks, or the swimming pools. The city is mowing grass, paying referees, life guards, maintaining the buildings, etc. The city/county does charge fees but they are not making money on these facilities that they are maintaining they are losing money. Soccer, and baseball if you want to play you pay. If you want to swim you pay. The tri state racquet club is for the elite who can join as a member for an annual fee and then pay extra to use the tennis courts. John Doe age 5 to 95 can come out and use the tennis courts at Wesselman park for free and even take lessons to learn the basics of tennis for free. Yes they have their leagues, yes the schools use the courts, but that is how they have maintained the courts and built the building. The ECTA is putting up more money to build this then what they are asking of the EVCB where the ball field swere 35M with no matching funds. The ECTA like the sea creatures can bring in tournaments to play and use the hotel rooms so that the money if provided by the convention bureau would be repaid in a matter of time. Where the ball fields would not bring in as many outsiders to use our hotels/motels, restaurants, etc. Evansville is known as the “fat” city is that becasue no one wants us to eercise in the political areana. Look at the big cities with all the parks and recreations which includes, tennis, baseball, soccer, football, horseback riding, bike trails, boat paths, etc. What is Daniels doing mandating that we work on making our kids eat healthier and so is the President, and both are promoting excersize and Evansville just wants to get fatter and not offer free excersize the the JOhn Q Public

   • Do any of you all drive by public tennis courts daily? Can you remember the last time you saw anybody playing on them?

     Oh… So you don’t regularly see disappointed kids waiting to get the court, next?

     Is is insensitive to point out that if the fields are largely empty, all the time, yet fill up when ECTA puts on a “free” clinic – that the parents are after the – free day care?

     BTW: Politicians are out of their area of influence if they think they are mandated to check the kind of food that passes through our mouth.

2. You really dont think there is anything else this money could be better spent on?

   Nobody is arguing that tennis isnt a fine sport, or that Evansville needs more exercise (we do).

   With as many issues as our city is facing, I just cant see how anybody would prioritize tearing out a chunk of wesselman woods to put in tennis courts.

   Luckily our government officials all seem to have their heads on straight on this one.

   • This was a reply to Candace, by the way.

   • They are not tearing down any woods. The field they are building on is just that a grass field that has to be mowed by the city currently. NO woods are being destroyed. They have raised 1.1M to build this and just asking for 1m to complete. If they were tearing down woods I would certainly agree with you becasue I love my woods. The area that the ECTA which I have no affiliation with maintains the entire area and pays for referees etc and is very well maintained. Free lessons are provided to the public every saturday that tennis can be played (weather permitting). The 1M they are asking for would be regenerated plus more in a matter of a few years in innkeepers tax. I commend the ECTA becasue they are the only ones that provide free lessons for the JOhn Q Public.

     • Candance,

       I think it is important to remember that “nature” does not just consist of trees. All ecosystems interact be it tundra, desert, steppe, forest, wetland (swamp). So when someone considers that there is very little one can to do “reintroduce” nature, and a concrete jungle like Roberts Stadium and the adjacent parking lot become political ammunition, it seems that every time green space is lost…it seems to be a permanent loss. I would venture, (and this is opinion only)if you ask the naturalist at the preserve how big 43,000 square feet is, and then asked them how important wetland drainage and greenspace is, they would be able to tell you very much about the greenspace, but very little about how big 43,000 sq feet is. If you add 43,000 square feet PLUS the paving of the adjoining 6 courts and parking, that is a ton of greenspace that is in shorter and shorter supply

       There are several reasons that this project should NOT go thru as planned, and relative to the public funding of an entity that drives profit for a few tennis professionals, the greenspace, (once again in my opinion) is the least of what smells like bad swampwater at Wesselman Tennis Center.

       • The green space is irrelevant. Whether this funding is approved of or not, tennis courts will be going up in this area sometime in the next 5 years or so.

         • If that is the case, then the bright light of public information needs to shine to make sure there are no sweetheart deals between ECTA, the principles of now defunct ADVANTAGE FITNESS AND TENNIS, and public officials. Rumors are circulating that there are business dealings between city council member and those principles. Maybe Snegal should investigate to either confirm or dispell this rumor

           • Would you share more of a hint to Snegal about what the rumors and truths are? As you may surmise, Snegal is very busy following the leads of sneaky but legal things that are alleged.

3. And we wonder why the city of Evansville never progresses. There is never a single bit of support for the improvement of recreational facilities (indoor courts, dog park, baseball fields, etc etc etc), entertainment facilities (the stadium), and/or any other proposals by well supported and well run Evansville group. All of you really think 4 indoor courts in a city over 250,000 is really suitable? Any other metropolitan city in the country would be chomping at the bit to develop a facility that will provide great recreational opportunities both on and off the tennis court by a very well run organization. Lighten up. Keep looking for things to complain about.

   • If it is such a no brainer, and there would so much chomping at the bit, then why are no business people stepping uo to fill the void? Tennis is a great sport, but it is expensive to do facilities properly. If ECTA CAN GET HALF THE TOURNAMENTS THEY BID ON that will only account for at MOST 70 days of use a year. That leaves ECTA 290 days a year to giver the operation of the new club to a select few tennis professional who currently have no place to run their very profitable programs in the winter months. They are currently profiting by getting EXCLUSIVE use of the current courts at Wesselman

     • ECTA raised all of the money necessary for the courts that were built, along with the clubhouse. Why would they not have control of who plays there. You know why the courts are always full in the evenings and you think they are giving privileges to an exclusive group? Because the city of Evansville DOES NOT HAVE ENOUGH TENNIS COURTS. If ECTA wants to bring money in–to go back into the building of more courts and updates on their facility–they have to allow court time usage to groups who are consistently going to be there using the courts. This means the summer camps that go on there throughout the summer and the USTA leagues that happen in the evening. By updating the facility and adding more indoor courts a wider range of people will have access to recreational facilities in the winter time. Great programs will be run there, and with the new quickstart programs being created by the USTA WILL increase the involvement in tennis in the winter months—not just inveolvement by the “exclusive” group you are talking about.

       • Great programs WILL be run there? A quick check will find that there currently is yet another community tennis association in Evansville, Tri-state Area Tennis Association (TATA) I believe is the moniker. As I did some cursory looking at tennis courts around town. TATA already is running the USTA quick start program at other public courts around town.(it has run these for years without asking for any city funding) It is not full, and they are not crying for more courts, and especially not an indoor tennis club. Another quick check found that there are a bunch of men who weekly send emails to each other on whether or not they want to play tennis at 8pm on wednesdays at Wesselman. The courts are WIDE open that evening. During the ECTA tournament yesterday, Wide open courts at 1pm…right in the middle of these huge tournaments. I believe it is not a shortage of courts, but rather the shortage of space for individuals to teach INDOORS during inclimate weather that drives ECTA. These tennis professionals (and the small population that they give private and private group lessons to) will have no place to profit/play in the chilly months. If ECTA has already raised 1 million dollars (500,000 loan) then build your outdoor courts and move on. Or better yet, see if the city will GIVE you land on the north or west side so that you can actually grow Evansville COMMUNITY Tennis. Why all the courts in one place. No regard for tax payers living North or West? This indoor facility is a cover for a club for the few to play and profit.

4. A quick check might show that monies were collected from the parks board that they collected from the new casino about 2005.

   Ecta has done good things things no doubt about it. A fine example of a volunteer organization. But they have not paid for all the courts that were built and they certainly only pay $1 for yearly rent. They pay no income not property tax yet there are individuals involved that are making more than average wages by getting the ability to reserve ecta courts to run a business on public courts. Simply go to the courts monday thru thursday from about 8-3 and you wil find individuals making top dollar on publicly subsidized park facility

5. Is ecta going to let bids to ensure that the proposed facility is being managed in the most fiscally responsible way, or are sweetheart dells going to continue.

   The issue is not more courts, but why certain enteties look to get personal gains from city assets

   • The city is simply matching ecta’s fund and the funds that are being matched will inevitably be repaid when bigger tournaments are brought to the city. Wesselmans will be capable of bidding for high level junior circuit tournaments, bringing in large amounts of tourism. Therefore, I don’t understand why the discussion of public funds has been so emphasized. ECTA has a well thought out and fiscally responsible game plan. I am sure indoor use will go to groups willing and able to fill the courts in the winter time—including the public. The majority of this money would then go back to ECTA to continue improving the facility and evansvilles tennis program. Recereational involvement should be the priority for the large majority of Evansville. We have all seen the breakdowns of evansville’s overall health. The city should not be fighting against projects that aim to improve our recreational facilities. Yes, I am sure these courts will be available for groups who already use the courts, but that is a very small part of the overall picture here.

     • I just looked up the draw for the USTA tournamnet that ECTA is hosting at Wesselman Tennis facility. I had to go to each individual draw, because for some reason USTA did not post a “competitors” list. But the count I came up with was 42. I did not see ANY from out of town. Zero tourism dollars!!!!

       On the other hand, I looked up the tournament in Greenwood Indiana that is also going on this weekend. Here is the link to the competitors list.

       http://tennislink.usta.com/Tournaments/TournamentHome/Players.aspx?T=99058

       82 competitors… No indoor courts in greenwood, but somehow they survive…

       Bidding on tournaments is at best a risky proposition, and by no means ANY guarantee that any additional tournaments will be hosted here. The tournaments that ECTA currently hosts are DECLINING in participation.

       If ECTA is so convinced that this is a profitable venture… Purchase ground and build your club. Then you can determine what the market really deems as important by watching the dollars “flow” into your pockets. You can still be a non-profit and own land/buildings etc.

       What you are asking the city for is to pay 1 MILLION dollars for a POSSIBLITY that MAYBE “SOME” additional tournaments will fill the courts for MAYBE 50+/- days a year, and that for the rest of the year the “friends” of ECTA can make a profit charging for private and group lessons that are subsidized by 1 million dollars of public funds.

6. I hope you realize this expansion includes outdoors courts. It is imperative to have more than 12 courts for major junior tournaments. Once high level touraments come to evansville there may be 1 or 2 Evansville players…the remaining 62 would be from out of town. If you have not been involved in the junior national tennis scene then your knowledge of this matter will be very slight. Obviously, the low level tournaments currently being held are obviously full of Evansville players. Higher level tournaments, however, will bring in players from all over the country.

7. I have ben totally involved in jr. tennis and adult leagues. I an informed enough to know that a representative from USTA cita section probably cannot speak to national level tournaments as shown by his intimating that southern region might be interested in evansville. We may get a player or two but bringing the southern region into the discussion to a board that has limited knowledge shows how fraudulent the usta portion of ecta’s presentation was. Just call it what it is. Raise private capitol and build it. If it is such a good deal go for it! If
   YOU BUILD IT i will Probably be a customer.

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