New Stadium May Bring Parking Problems

The Roberts Stadium advisory board may soon have to choose if building a new arena is best for Evansville. Convincing folks may be a tough sell, but as Andy Schroeder reports, its not the only hurdle out there. How far will you walk from your car? To your final destination? Consultants working on options to replace Roberts Stadium say the average concert goer will trek 4 blocks from parking spot to front door. Thats the formula used to help narrow down potential sites for a new, 8,600 seat arena. That may be the national average, but those who know our Evansville habits arent so sure. City county building authority director Dave Rector knows those habits pretty well. He oversees about 12-hundred parking spots, including 929 in the Civic Center lot. This is one of the locations consultants say is perfect for a new stadium, and that would mean finding new options for Civic Center employees and visitors. A total of about 21 to 31 hundred people who use this lot daily. Rectors looked at the cost of parking garages, they run about 14 to 15 thousand dollars *per* parking space, making even modest ones cost well in to the millions. Other proposed downtown locations, including the Executive Inn and D-Patrick car lot, and the old Kenny Kent Skora building lot, wouldnt cost parking spots. But how willing will patrons be to get out and walk to those places? The answer to that may just determine is a new arena succeeds or fails. Andy schroeder fox 7 news.