Arena ideas flow

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As Lincoln inches ever closer to building a new arena to replace Pershing Center, local architects and engineers are brainstorming ideas.

BY DEENA WINTER | JournalStar.com

It was as though Mother Nature was putting on a show — just to make a point — onstage at the Pershing Center.

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A possible site of new convention center: Lincoln Station on the right, post office on the left, looking northeast and shot from the Harris Overpass. (LJS File)

A possible site of new convention center: Lincoln Station on the right, post office on the left, looking northeast and shot from the Harris Overpass. (LJS File)

As a storm battered the 50-year-old building, lights occasionally flickered and roof vent shutters banged relentlessly overhead while Lincoln architects and engineers huddled over a half dozen tables of maps, drawings and Sharpies.

They were brainstorming logistics and locations for a new arena to replace the very auditorium they toiled in all day Thursday.

Lincoln’s architects and engineers gathered onstage to share their expertise — for free — with the mayor’s arena task force. Their work was shepherded by Stan Meradith, principal architect with DLR Group, the Omaha firm that designed the Qwest Center.

Arena task force chairman Dick Campbell beamed as he watched professionals put their heads together with city officials, community boosters and task force members. All of them volunteered their time (some undoubtedly in the hope they might eventually land some arena business).

“That’s a huge win for the community,” Campbell said. “If you had to pay for the expertise that’s in this room today, (it’d cost more than) $100,000. I’m anxious to see what they come up with.”

They had a “charette” — a quick, intense visual brainstorming session — to come up with an urban design for an arena, convention center, hotel, parking garage and exhibition hall.

They used a 16,000-seat arena as a template — approaching the size of the Qwest Center, which may be expanded. The task force previously recommended building a 15,000-seat arena, but the size of the proposed arena has ballooned since a Minneapolis consultant first suggested Lincoln build an 8,000- to 12,000-seat arena.

“If it’s big enough, it’ll be successful,” Meradith said. “I would contend that we need to think bigger, rather than smaller.”

A task force appointed by Mayor Coleen Seng has met for nearly a year and in October recommended the city build a new arena and enlist a private developer to build a hotel and convention center nearby. The task force has divided into four committees and plans to report back to Seng in late May or early June.

Campbell said a bond issue election could be held in 18 months to two-and-a-half years, at the earliest.

With construction costs going up quickly, Meradith said time is of the essence.

“Time really isn’t our ally,” he said.

He suggested Lincoln make the arena usable year-round, by including restaurants, shopping areas and other entertainment that will attract visitors outside of event days. And consider a larger, more distinct hotel to serve as a beacon that says, “Here we are.”

Location, location, location

The task force is still focused on the Haymarket District, even though the site has ground contamination from diesel fuel spilled by trains, buried fuel tanks and flood plain issues — not to mention the need to relocate a large post office. Campbell said the Haymarket site emerged the clear winner of 10 sites the task force examined.

“Everything appears to be very solvable,” he said of the challenges.

Meradith said 80 percent of arenas built since 1995 have been built in downtowns, where they spur economic development. It might be cheaper to build an arena elsewhere, but he said “non-urban arenas don’t have much of a future.”

“I don’t think you want to hide the arena,” he said. Downtown arenas bring more lucrative naming rights, too, he said.

UNL connection fades

The task force is no longer banking on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to partner with the city on an arena. Consultants have said UNL’s participation would be crucial because it would provide a regular tenant for the arena, but UNL representatives have consistently said the Devaney Sports Center is meeting its needs.

City-county Assistant Planning Director Kent Morgan said Thursday that UNL may expand the Devaney Center on three sides. The arena task force has changed its tune on the issue, saying it’d be better for the arena to be flexible enough to hold everything from rodeos to circuses and not be beholden to UNL for weekend games and regular practices.

Some ideas from the charette:

* Use the Lincoln Station as a front door to either a convention center, hotel or exhibition center.

* Use street cars, trolleys or free buses to bring traffic to the Haymarket arena.

* Build a hotel at the west end of Q Street and connect it to a convention center and arena with a three-story mixed-use facility, with retail on the ground floor and offices and housing above.

Their vision will be revised by a smaller group in the coming weeks, Meradith said.

Reach Deena Winter at 473-2642 or dwinter@journalstar.com.