1. Why does Lincoln need a new arena?
Pershing Center is Lincoln’s only city-owned arena. At fifty years of age, it is functionally obsolete as a modern entertainment and sports venue. With only 4,500 seats, inadequate stage rigging, and worn infrastructure, it is severely limited in its ability to attract concert and entertainment events within the region.
The University of Nebraska’s arena needs are currently served by the 13,500-seat Bob Devaney Sports Center. Home to the UNL men’s and women’s basketball teams, it is the only facility of its kind in the Big 12 Conference without a practice arena. It also houses swimming, track, wrestling, and gymnastics. Built in 1976, the structure was not designed to support the sound, lighting, and video requirements of modern score boards or concerts. The Devaney Center is heavily utilized by UNL and only rarely hosts non-University related events.
2. What will happen to Pershing and Devaney when the arena is built?
Determining the future use of Pershing is a high priority of the City. Its prominent location on Centennial Mall and proximity to state, city, and federal government make it a good candidate for renovation and adaptive reuse, if feasible. A study is currently underway to identify and evaluate potential new uses for Pershing. The public is invited to an open house at Pershing, on October 29, 2008, from 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. to provide ideas about how the building and site could be used in the future.
UNL will continue to use the Devaney Center for its swimming, track, wrestling and gymnastic programs. With the relocation of the basketball programs to the new arena, it will be possible for UNL to accommodate programs that need additional space or a more convenient location.
3. Why was the Haymarket selected as the site for the new Arena?
West Haymarket was selected because it integrates the arena into a wide range of existing and proposed complementary activities in the area, such as recreation, entertainment, retail, lodging, and restaurants. The location takes advantage of shared resources like parking, roads, and utility infrastructure. Furthermore, the West Haymarket location generates the greatest economic impact with the lowest expenditure of public money. It will transform what is currently underutilized land into an expanded Downtown core, enhancing the long-term viability of Lincoln’s unique historic district and expanding Lincoln’s job base.
Careful steps are being taken to assure that the new arena and West Haymarket development do not overpower or detract in any way from the welcoming environment and special ambience that characterizes the Haymarket today. An Integrated Development Plan (IDP) is being developed by the City to establish urban design standards and development guidelines for West Haymarket. One of the goals is to minimize event-related vehicular traffic entering the Haymarket by intercepting event-related traffic at key points in and near the Downtown and Haymarket district using existing and proposed new roadways.
4. How will land be assembled to create West Haymarket?
Most of the land that will make up West Haymarket is currently owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad. The City of Lincoln has been working closely with BNSF to acquire the land needed for West Haymarket and the new Arena. The city has received every indication that a final agreement will be successfully negotiated in the near future. The Amtrak ticket office will be relocated to the west side of West Haymarket to a prominent and convenient location for passengers.
5. What will be done to address environmental concerns and goals?
It is not unusual to see new arenas today being built on sites with existing environmental challenges. The reason for this is that large tracts of land can be more readily assembled and the impact on surrounding neighborhoods can be minimized in these locations. In many cities, including Lincoln, these areas are near the city core but are underutilized from an urban land use perspective. Therefore, when they can be sensitively redeveloped in accordance with the strictest environmental and flood control requirements, they are highly suitable as arena sites.
The development of West Haymarket will include strategies for protecting saline wetlands and providing flood storage capacity for Salt Creek. The area may be eligible for environmental funding associated with “brownfield” site designation, which can be used to assess and clean up sites with the potential presence of hazardous substances, pollutants, or contaminants.
6. How will the Arena and West Haymarket Development be funded?
One of the guiding principles for the West Haymarket Arena project is to create a funding program that will not require an increase in property taxes. Based on feasibility studies and market analysis conducted on the West Haymarket Development, it is projected that the new Arena can generate substantial new revenue to fulfill bond payments. Other potential revenue sources include event fees, parking revenues, hotel occupancy taxes, rental car occupancy taxes, UNL Athletic Department leases, corporate donations are also potential revenue sources. The bond issue will be backed by the full faith and credit of the City of Lincoln.
The City intends to have Arena cost estimates from the City’s design team by early 2009, at which time an updated project proforma will be shared with the public outlining the proposed uses and sources of funds for West Haymarket.
7. How will the interest of IMG/ISG affect the funding of the arena?
ISG is a joint venture of IMG, its parent company, and Bastion Stadiums, LLP. The partnership brings private sector financing and business practices to entertainment and sports venues around the world. In recent years they financed the 90,000 seat Wembley Stadium in London, England at a price of 800 million pounds. They have also shown an interest in building a new arena for the University of Kentucky basketball program to replace the aging Rupp Arena.
The University of Nebraska has a relationship with IMG College that includes marketing rights to UNL sports including football, basketball, volleyball, baseball and softball.
ISG has expressed an interest in the Lincoln Arena project. The City of Lincoln and UNL has agreed to explore the potential funding opportunities that might be available through ISG. The research process is expected to last two months with a better idea of their interest established by the end of 2008. If at the conclusion of this reach process all the parties believe that a profitable relationship can be established the City, UNL, and ISG would formalize an agreement to have ISG fund the arena’s construction.
8. How will the Arena and West Haymarket Development benefit Lincoln?
The development of West Haymarket and the building of a new Arena will benefit the city of Lincoln directly and indirectly. First, according to an economic analysis report by the UNL Bureau of Business Research, a new arena could generate as much as $5 million a year in new business revenue and $2 million a year in labor income. On average, each visitor to Lincoln generates approximately $300 a day, in lodging, food, and commercial revenue. During construction of the arena, approximately 5,500 jobs and $180 million in revenue will be generated, providing a much-needed and timely economic stimulus for Lincoln.
Second, a city’s amenities are important factors in attracting and retaining a workforce of young people and families with children. These groups also make up a large percentage of arena users. Without a new arena, it is feared that many of these next generation citizens will be drawn to live elsewhere if our community cannot offer comparable lifestyle choices, amenities, and entertainment options available in other cities. Furthermore, potential businesses considering locating in Lincoln will be inclined to follow the labor base. A new Arena and the amenities that will be developed in West Haymarket will help retain our most productive generation of citizens and attract the jobs that they will need to support their families.
9. How will the new Arena compete with or complement other venues in the region?
Every city of Lincoln’s size or greater is in the business of attracting and competing for visitors, patrons, and customers to utilize their theatres, arenas, and convention centers and spend money in their shops, hotels, and restaurants. Understanding how Lincoln can successfully compete for our share in the market and within this region has been an important focus of the City’s efforts in planning the new Arena. One of Lincoln’s primary competitors now and in the future is Omaha’s Qwest Center, with which we compete for state high school wrestling, basketball, and volleyball tournaments. We also will compete with Omaha for concerts targeting the college age demographic. However, Lincoln’s student population is greater than Omaha’s and some artists, such as Green Day, Linkin Park, and John Mayer, would typically prefer a university demographic like UNL.
Many family shows, such as Sesame Street, Disney on Ice, and Harlem Globetrotters, will be interested in playing both cities. Both Lincoln and Omaha will attract locally based shows and events, such as home and garden shows, bridal forums, trade shows, and high school graduations.
10. Can the city afford to build an Arena now? Can we afford not to?
We all recognize that the country is currently experiencing an economic downturn. The nightly news carries frequent reports of failures in the housing and lending industries, job losses, and the rise of personal indebtedness. Some people argue that in this economic climate, large scale, visionary plans should be abandoned or postponed until the economy corrects itself. Others argue that it is when the economy is weak that significant investments and bold steps are most needed to help stimulate a significant economic turn-around. Economic feasibility studies conducted for the new arena support the second argument. In fact, two important Lincoln public buildings were built or funding established for their construction during the bleakest economic times in our nation, the Great Depression: the Nebraska State Capitol (1922-1932) and Pershing Municipal Auditorium (1939). Both of these generated much-need jobs during and after construction and made it clear that Lincoln had become an important center of civic life.
Planning for the new arena and West Haymarket development has been a painstaking and complicated process involving dozens of people from public, private, community, business, and philanthropic sectors of the city. It has generated millions of dollars in philanthropic donations and private investment. It has also sparked the imagination of many Lincoln citizens as they begin to envision what Lincoln will have to offer them and future families who considering whether to make Lincoln their home. The momentum that has been gained in developing these plans will reach its peak in the spring of 2009 when voters will be asked to lend their support of a bond issue to construct the arena and supporting public infrastructure. Failure to pass the bond issue risks not only the loss of this hard-won momentum, but the potential weakening of support from critical financial partners, including donors, developers, and publicly elected officials. All the research and studies done to date indicate that Lincoln can afford to build the arena and develop West Haymarket now. Not building the arena now when planning and support are fully in place and momentum is building, could result in a permanently lost opportunity --arguably a risk Lincoln cannot afford to take if we want to assure a vibrant future.
January-February:
Final Finance and Design Plan Discussions
