Information Shortage on Ball Field Plans "Frustrating"

Plans to redevelop large portions of Wesselman Park on Evansvilles east side are under fire from a growing contingent of grass roots supporters of the neighboring nature preserve. Tuesday night, members of the Evansville Convention and Visitors Bureau were scheduled to give a presentation to the Wesselman Nature Society board of directors, which oversees the nature preserve. That presentation was canceled, creating a sense of frustration among some board members who believe an information shortage is keeping them from making any comment on the proposal. The CVB unveiled its vision of a $12 million baseball and softball complex in the fall, and unveiled formal design for the project earlier this month. It calls for redeveloping most of the city owned park as a 9 field baseball and softball complex, geared towards luring major tournaments and tourist dollars to Evansville. The architects drawings of the redevelopment would put some of the fields right next to the nature preserve, where a par 3 golf course currently sits. That is too close for comfort for some. There is a growing grass roots opposition to the plan, which recently received nearly a half million dollars in funding to hire an architect, and is geared for completion in 2009. Opponents say the speed of the project, and the lack of public input, are frustrating. "Were trying to save our park," said Sherman Stevens, who is championing a letter writing campaign to the city council and mayor. Stevens worries that the proximity of the ball fields to the preserve, and the throngs of fans and athletes that would attend tournaments, would throw the local ecology out of balance, and drive wildlife away. Members of the Wesselman Nature Society board of directors echoed some of those same concerns at their Tuesday meeting, and agreed to contact the Convention and Visitors Bureau, asking for a say in the decision making process on the fields. Members said that what happens in the park certainly effects the preserve, and some voiced concern about the speed with which the project is moving forward. They will also ask the CVB for public hearings on the plan.