3 arena sites will be studied further

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BY MATT OLBERDING / Lincoln Journal Star

Now that potential sites for a downtown arena have been whittled from nine to three, a task force will turn its focus to infrastructure and financing issues.

On Thursday the mayor’s arena task force settled on three possible sites for an arena, convention center and hotel, all of which are in or near the Haymarket:

* At the current site of the downtown post office near Seventh and R streets;

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Directly west of Lincoln Station. The downtown post office is in the background. (LJS File)

Directly west of Lincoln Station. The downtown post office is in the background. (LJS File)

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Graphic: The three sites

The Mayor's Arena Task Force has settled on three possible sites for an arena, convention center and hotel, all of which are in or near the Haymarket:...

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* Directly west of Lincoln Station, using the building as a sort of historic entrance;

* On the south side of the Harris Overpass, near Seventh and N streets.

Dick Campbell, the task force’s chairman, said two subcommittees will now look at the specifics of building and paying for the arena.

One subcommittee, headed by Kent Morgan of the Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Department, will look at infrastructure issues at the three sites, such as availability and condition of utilities, roads and any possible environmental contamination.

The other subcommittee, headed by city Finance Director Don Herz, will look at the possible ways to finance the arena.

Campbell said the subcommittees are expected to report back to the full committee in about six weeks.

After that, the task force will make a recommendation to Mayor Coleen Seng.

That recommendation could be for just one site or it could include all three, Campbell said.

After that, “it’s up to the mayor to make a recommendation or go forward as she sees appropriate,” he said.

Seng, through a spokeswoman, said she had no comment because the report is not final.

Lincoln is looking to build an arena with at least 15,000 seats to replace the small, aging Pershing Center. The task force has estimated the cost to be $85 million to $100 million.

The city also is hoping private developers will build a hotel and 70,000-80,000 square-foot convention center to complement the arena.

Missouri hotel magnate John Q. Hammons, who built Lincoln’s Embassy Suites hotel, has expressed interest in building a hotel and convention center in the Haymarket if the city builds an arena.

And other hotels may be interested as well.

“I have been told that there would be more than one hotel interested,” Campbell said.

The entire project, including the arena cost, private investment and financing for things such as road improvements, parking and possible relocation costs for the post office and or railroad tracks, has been estimated at as much as $222 million.

Downtown Lincoln Association President Polly McMullen, who is a member of the task force, said she was pleased with the three sites chosen and that they were all “worthy of further study.”

She said it’s been the consensus almost from the beginning of the process that the Haymarket is the best location for an arena and convention center.

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