Let's catch you up to speed on a few things. The Waukesha Freeman reported over 100 people attended last night's walk in Frame Park. They are also reporting Waukesha aldermen are getting calls, and not just from the mayor. (For the fun of it, someone should file an ORR for the mayor's phone calls to the aldermen while on his most recent travels.)
Meanwhile, the Waukesha Freeman weighs in on the editorial page:
But the larger question is very simple: Does the community want to allow its treasured Frame Park to be used in this way by a private enterprise? We say absolutely not.
It’s one thing to hold an annual festival in the park, but it is something else entirely to allow a business to set up shop in this manner.
We think the mayor has good intentions in trying to bring the baseball league to Frame Park. The mayor thinks the new baseball facility will enhance the park. He also sees the baseball team as one piece of an overall vision for Waukesha that includes several other developments around town such as the Clarke Hotel project.
But even though the plan has some promising aspects, it poses too much of a threat to the park’s character.
The park is seen as a jewel – elegant and classy. Many local citizens have put their heart and soul into making Frame Park the beautiful place it is. Let’s not mess with it.
Meanwhile, the blog Fox Head has decided to jump off the fence.
Last week I had to make a road trip to Appleton on business. In Appleton they have just a stadium for baseball that is similar in concept to what is being proposed. Granted the stadium sits by the freeway and I believe it is larger than the one proposed, but it gave me an idea of what we would be looking at.
After all of these comparisons and envisioning what we would be looking at, and my own wants, I have come to the conclusion that we don’t need the stadium in Frame Park.
It simply does not fit the ambiance of Frame Park and I believe that despite the money being thrown around and the dollar signs that Mayor Larry is seeing, this would be a very misplaced venture and would only hurt the feel and look of Frame Park.
Beyond that, look at what 35 nights would be doing to the neighborhood. The traffic, the noise, and the lights will make 35 nights out of the summer miserable for people who are just trying to live their lives in peace. I know from personal experience what a hassle it is to get around when a game is going on. I get to enjoy that each time Waukesha West hosts a football game, not to mention the lights and the noise. Fortunately it’s only a few nights in fall that we get to enjoy that, but I definitely know how the surrounding neighborhoods would feel.
Building on that, even with the football games we are in a rural enough of a setting that at least I can circumvent the traffic. Frame Park is in the middle of downtown Waukesha, imagine the traffic snarls and problems when a game lets out. Add to that, the fact that they may serve beer at the games, now you have people who have had a few trying to make their way home in the middle of downtown.
Next stop, BID meeting Monday night.
