On Thursday Oct. 20th at 4:00 PM, the Board of Zoning Appeals will hear the request of the Wesselman Tennis group to grant permission for them to put an acre of beautiful park green space under roof and build indoor tennis courts.
This meeting will not be about financing the project and will only deal with permission to proceed.
WE IMPLORE THE PEOPLE OF EVANSVILLE TO STAND UP TO THIS BLATANT LAND GRAB BY THE EVANSVILLE COMMUNITY TENNIS ASSOCIATION !!!!!! WESSELMAN IS A PUBLIC PARK AND SHOULD NOT BE USED FOR PRIVATE INTERESTS.
The Evansville Community Tennis Association is pushing for the right to build a pole barn which would cover an acre of park land plus 6 outdoor concrete courts and a paved parking lot on the last large open green space in Wessleman Park. This is a beautiful area used by both children and adults to engage in unstructured activities (that is, inventive play vs organized sports). Once it is gone, it is gone forever.
One huge reason that the ECTA wants an indoor tennis facility is that certain people want a place to teach indoor tennis as a business. Interesting that these ladies can use public land on which to place their business. Plus according to the ECTA/park board contract, the city will pay electric, water and sewer bills for them. That is our money, guys. And we all know about the history of increases in Vectren rates and the promise of sewer rate increases as the feds push for rehabbing of the local sewers. The ECTA will rent the area for $1.00 a year and keep ALL the proceeds they receive from tennis lessons(both indoor and outdoor), tennis tournaments, concessions, and any other goldmines they can find. The public can use the courts at particular times but not if they are in use by the ECTA for tournaments, lessons, or practices, or locked up. The few people that play tennis in Evansville who are not members of the tennis association seem to already manage to find a time to play on the already existing courts at Wesselman or other areas in town. I, therefore, see no public benefit and a whole of free money to the ECTA.
A BIG problem is that the Park Board who okayed this atrocity answers to no one. They are not cross-checked or reviewed. They are appointed, not elected. They do not report to the mayor, the city council, the county council, or the county commissioners. In a perfect world, the park board would listen to the people they serve, but I have certainly seen otherwise. Remember the $18 million baseball fields that the park board thought was fine and dandy? This is in fact a big problem with all the boards in Evansville government. However some boards have a structure of regulations under which they work. I don’t see that with the Park Baord and these guys are intrusted with thousands of acres of public land.
We cannot solve the problems about the oversight of boards in Evansville today. Right now we must work quickly to undo the damage done by the park board’s approval of the ECTA’s pole barn and paving project. Acres of Wesselman Park’s green space will be destroyed if the ECTA’s plan goes forward.
Please write to the Board of Zoning Appeals at the city-county building or plan on attending the above-mentioned meeting. Also read the comments under today’s IS IT TRUE? concerning the Wesselman Park and the ECTA
The city will pay electric, utility, and sewer bills. Sorry buddy. Way off there. Get your facts straight. Clearly stated in the lease agreement that ECTA will be responsible for the maintenance of the facility as well as all utility bills.
Evansville is ridiculous. This will be an unbelievable facility that will provide more indoor recreation for the city of the Evansville. While a small group of people will benefit-as their livelihood depends on it- the entire city of Evansville will benefit as well.
“The few people that play tennis in Evansville who are not members of the tennis association seem to already manage to find a time to play on the already existing courts at Wesselman or other areas in town. I, therefore, see no public benefit and a whole of free money to the ECTA.”
Right–This would either entail that they are playing outside during the months of November, December, January, February, March, and April..correct?
OR that they will be forced to pay incredibly high dues at Tri-State, the ONLY indoor tennis facility left in Evansville. That is a bigger problem in itself.
Overall, this project will provide great benefit to the city of Evansville as well as its tourism. Those who are standing in the way are concerned about their personal business interests…which is why I find it kind of ironic that they would complain about the business interests of others. Don’t get on here acting like you are concerned about the green space available at Wesselman’s when we all know you are concerned about the profit losses at another indoor tennis facility a few miles down the road.
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