It was no coincidence that members of the 2015 Vision group chose Lincoln Station in the Haymarket to give an update Tuesday on their progress to date.

It is hoped that someday the venue will be the “front door” to a new downtown arena.

The group’s announcement Tuesday that it has raised more than $25 million in private commitments may mean that dream is closer to reality.

About $10 million of that is already in hand and the rest is pledged, said Terry Fairfield, president of the University of Nebraska Foundation and a member of the group that formed last fall in part to help shepherd several large public-private projects in the works.

“It truly is an amazing start,” Fairfield said.

Much of the money is aimed toward what the group considers its top three projects — a downtown arena and convention center, a research and development corridor near the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the Antelope Valley project.

Fairfield said the group set a goal of raising $12 million for the R&D corridor and has already raised more than 75 percent of that amount.

It also has already raised more than half of the $3 million in private donations it needs for an east downtown park, he said.

The rest of the money is mostly earmarked for future spending on the arena and convention center, although Fairfield said there is some flexibility on how it can be spent.

A lot of work still remains before an arena and convention center can be built, but things are moving forward, said Tom Henning, president and CEO of Assurity Life Insurance Co. and another member of the 2015 Vision Group.

Henning said various studies are either under way or planned and initial discussions have begun with Burlington Northern Santa Fe officials regarding land the railroad owns that would be needed for the arena.

And Mayor Chris Beutler said he hopes to have a redevelopment agreement for the area in front of the City Council by October.

While the arena has gathered much of the public’s focus, the R&D corridor may soon be stealing some of that limelight.

Kent Seacrest, a local attorney who has often functioned as the public spokesman of the 2015 group, said there are “specific companies looking at specific sites” in the proposed R&D corridor. He declined to name any companies but said the group includes local, national and international companies.

That’s in addition to the more than $70 million worth of UNL projects already planned.

Construction of a $34.5 million physics building is scheduled to start in September and be complete by June of 2009, and a $23.7 million remodeling of the former Whittier Junior High School is scheduled to start next year and be complete by the end of 2009.

Chancellor Harvey Perlman said  UNL will also seek Board of Regents approval this fall for a $13.5 million nanomaterials building that, if approved, would be completed sometime in 2010.   

And Sen. Ben Nelson is sponsoring a $2 million planning appropriation for what could be a $50 million federal agricultural research building on UNL’s East Campus to house both UNL and federal scientists.    

That’s a ways off from the 17th Street R&D corridor, but the 2015 group sees the corridor curving to State Fair Park in a crescent that reaches East Campus.

The Legislature is studying whether it would be feasible to move the State Fair to the grounds of the Lancaster Event Center near 84th and Holdrege.

While that study is important, plans will still move forward even if the State Fair remains where it is, said 2015 Vision member Marc LeBaron, chairman and CEO of Lincoln Industries.

There is movement on many of the projects, but members of the group who spoke to the Journal Star Tuesday afternoon said there is still much work to be done.

Group members have been visiting cities around the country to get ideas for the arena and R&D corridor, and Fairfield said there will be a continued fundraising push over the next six months.

The money raised so far has met the group’s expectations, Fairfield said, but it is challenging to raise money without firm estimates on what the projects will cost.

“Many people would like specifics, but in many cases there aren’t specifics yet,” he said.

Beutler said he is behind the group’s efforts 100 percent, calling the members “a delight to work with.”

He called the announcement of the $25 million “just huge” and said it was welcome news coming on the heels of discussions of the budget cuts the city needs to make.

Joked Beutler, “I’m almost ready to quit the mayor’s job and come help you raise funds.”

Reach Matt Olberding at 473-2647 or at molberding@journalstar.com.