Ford Center this month enters its second decade hosting sports, concerts and other events — events that in a non-pandemic year can bring a half million people into Downtown Evansville.
That traffic didn’t exist before 2011, nor did the DoubleTree and Hyatt Place hotels and numerous other restaurants and businesses that have arrived since. Ford Center was a controversial endeavor, but 10 years later, Downtown entrepreneurs are glad it's there.
The Rooftop, which opened in 2017 on Martin Luther King Boulevard a block from Ford Center, benefits greatly from the arena in cold-weather months, owner Richie Patel said.
The restaurant thrives on outdoor dining when it's warm outside, but it can count on arena activity through fall and winter. And as the weather got chilly in recent days, Ford Center’s calendar ramped up.
In recent days, Downtown businesses got a boost from a University of Evansville exhibition basketball game, WWE wrestling, heavy metal group Disturbed and country music superstar George Strait.
“It definitely helps,” Patel said of Ford Center. “It’s good security to know that we’re going to get x-amount of people guaranteed, whenever there’s an event.”
UE basketball and the Evansville Thunderbolts hockey team take up many dates on the arena’s calendar, but nearby businesses look forward to concerts the most.
High Score Saloon, which has vintage arcade games, pinball machines and a variety of drinks, opened in 2017 on Main Street. On nights of major concerts, “we see a more than notable increase in revenue and foot traffic, and it’s often people just finding out about us,” co-owner Clint Hoskins said.
This is the Downtown dynamic that advocates for a new arena promised when the project was in its incubation phase. Former Mayor Jonathan Weinzapfel, whose administration championed the arena, said Ford Center is proving its worth.
"The foundation for all the new development really goes back to the construction of the Ford Center," Weinzapfel said. "It’s an expression of confidence that the city is willing to invest in itself, and if the city does that, the private sector is going to be willing to look at that area and make similar investments. That is what it has spurred."
Weinzapfel said the arena also is impacting how Evansville views itself.
"Evansville used to be known as a city of negative Nellies, people who didn’t want to see any change happen. I think it was a minority, but there was some significant opposition to the project. But I think in building a state-of-the-art, world-class facility, on time and under budget, people saw what we were able to do in Evansville, and I think a lot of that negativism has gone away. I see a community that aspires to greatness, where there’s new hope and opportunity."
Big-time events, big-time costs
Ford Center has brought noteworthy people and events to the city.
The Ohio Valley Conference, an NCAA Division I league, surprised some observers when it moved its men's and women's basketball tournament to Evansville even through no local university is a member. But the OVC was pleased with its reception and extended its contract with the city through 2023.
The NCAA Division II men's basketball national championship also came, and will continue at Ford Center for at least four more years.
Elton John has played the arena twice, and numerous other big names in country, rock and contemporary Christian music have visited. Then-President Donald Trump packed the house in 2018; his crowd of 11,500 set a record.
The Indiana Republican Party held its 2018 convention in Ford Center, and Evansville staples such as the Hadi Shrine Circus and Guns & Hoses have made the arena their home. Several Cirque du Solei and Disney on Ice shows have come through.
An annual summer conference of Jehovah's Witnesses, which brings thousands of guests over two weekends, is expected to return post-COVID.
For all these positives, Ford Center comes at a very high taxpayer cost. There are studies which cast a negative light on the worth of publicly funded sports venues, calling their value overblown and their public cost extravagant.
Evansville's arena debt is financed by bonds issued by city government. The original bonds from 2010 were reissued in 2016.
The principal outstanding is $89,220,000, and the interest owed is $51,940,522, for a total of $141,160,522, according to data from the city controller's office. The bonds' maturation date is 2039.
The city saved about $9.7 million through the 2016 refinancing, Controller Russ Lloyd Jr. said. Annual payments on Ford Center debt are made using Downtown Tax Increment Finance District revenue, casino revenue, and food and beverage tax revenue.
Ford Center will need fixes and upgrades in the future, which might add to the public's tab. For now, the decade-old arena remains in overall good shape, said Executive Director Scott Schoenike with building manager VenuWorks.
Technology advances are the arena's biggest maintenance challenge. Items installed 10 years ago no longer keep up with the times, Schoenike said, and essentials such as lighting and HVAC systems are operated by computer.
"It's like anything else, software and hardware have to match up," Schoenike said.
That's also the case for Ford Center's massive video board above the floor and its ribbon board circling the seating area.
"They have a life expectancy, but we're going to hold onto them as long as we can," Schoenike said. "That's not a cheap replacement. Definitely in five years, we'll have to start knowing what our next plan is there."
New flooring in the arena concourse is another likely future need.
Evansville Mayor Lloyd Winnecke said Ford Center is "one of our great assets," and the building's long-term condition already is a conversation topic.
"We want to keep the Ford Center a state-of-the-art facility, and that will be a focus going forward," he said.
Building arena was 'rough ride'
If it seems unbelievable that Ford Center is 10 years old now, consider the process leading up to its opening in November 2011. That was a roughly six-year endeavor that seemed like eternity to those involved.
“It was a rough ride,” Weinzapfel recalled.
Building a new arena with taxpayer money required all the elements of a big construction project: site selection, architectural drawings, utility work, hiring numerous contractors, crunching numbers. An automobile dealership had to relocate. Other structures were razed.
But for Weinzapfel, the most cumbersome task was convincing a skeptical Evansville population that a new arena was even needed.
Generations of residents had grown up at Roberts Stadium, and some found it hard to let go. Roberts hosted the UE basketball team’s glory years, plus countless circuses, graduation ceremonies and more.
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A who’s who of legendary musicians — Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Johnny Cash, Prince and a young Taylor Swift, to name a few — played at Roberts.
Then-President Ronald Reagan stopped by in 1986 to rally local Republicans. Barack Obama addressed a packed house in 2008 while seeking the Democratic nomination for president.
There were lots of memories, but by the time of Obama’s appearance and Swift’s concert a year later, Roberts also had lots of problems.
It lacked all the amenities of a modern arena. Luxury suites, scoreboards, locker rooms — everything was far out of date. City officials complained of rising maintenance costs. There was an uncontrollable water discharge under the building, and it seeped through cracks in the stadium's concrete floor.
The building, which opened in 1956, was nowhere near compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.
Roberts Stadium, too, was 10 minutes from an inactive Downtown that Weinzapfel and other community leaders desperately wanted to save.
“When I came into office, at 5 o’clock you could see tumbleweeds blowing down Main Street,” Weinzapfel said.
The city formed a task force and conducted public hearings to chart a path forward.
Foes of a new taxpayer-funded arena pushed the city to prioritize utility projects instead. They organized a “Sewers Before Stadium” rallying cry and called for a public vote.
Weinzapfel and other advocates forged ahead, breaking ground for the arena in October 2009. Tri-State Ford Dealerships secured the naming rights as part of an agreement that expires in 2025. That contract is worth $6,845,000 over its 15 years.
Ford Center hosted a few private events before its official debut, a Bob Seger show on Nov. 9, 2011. UE’s first regular-season basketball games in its new home were blockbuster matchups with Butler and Indiana.
Weinzapfel remembered the emotions he felt as he watched the Aces defeat Butler in overtime, and the work it took to build the arena at Main and MLK.
"I think it’s been a worthwhile and great investment," said Weinzapfel, who since leaving office in 2011 has worked in law and as president of Ivy Tech Community College's local campus, while also losing a 2020 race for Indiana attorney general. He's now interim CEO of Indiana United Ways.
"We made investments in our city parks and utility and other parts of Downtown," Weinzapfel said of his two terms as mayor. "But sure, I think the first thing people will remember about our administration is the Ford Center. And I’m OK with that.”