Expand Haymarket Park
digg it!
Facebook
del.icio.us
Seed Newsvine
Fark It
Reddit
BY TODD HENRICHS / Lincoln Journal Star
Anyone who’s ever coached a youth baseball team recognizes that freckled-faced boy, hat pulled down to his ears, with dreams of playing in the big leagues.
It’s the same look Saltdogs owner Jim Abel and other members of the 2015 Vision group have when tossing around ideas and fantasizing about Lincoln’s possibilities as a regional sports hub.
“We need to create the vision,” said Abel, chairman of Nebco. “And once we have that put together, we’ll cross our fingers on how we’re going to get it paid for.”
Related Media
2015 Vision's plans for Haymarket Park and Lincoln sports
John Mabry talks with Jim Abel and Roger Severin about 2015 Vision's ideas for sports in Lincoln. (Video by John Mabry, produced by Laura Meerkatz...
Related Link(s):
2015 Vision group members see a landscape of recreational fields on undeveloped land south and west of Haymarket Park. Plans could include a high school football stadium, complexes for youth baseball, softball and soccer, and even a sheet of ice for skaters.
Estimated price tag: Costs will vary depending on what’s included and when the different pieces of the project are phased in. A new high school football stadium at Papillion-La Vista South, for instance, cost $4.5 million but included a track. A baseball/softball/soccer complex on 80 acres in Gardner, Kan., is expected to cost $7 million.
Who benefits: New facilities would benefit families with young children in Lincoln and hotel and restaurant owners and retailers, who would feel the economic impact of additional visitors to the city.
Barriers: Beyond the price tag, obstacles include the need to move nearby railroad tracks and public works facilities, and to build additional roads.
Looks like: Many cities have clustered sports venues in one area. Large baseball and softball complexes -- 10 fields or more -- can be found in Omaha, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and in suburbs of Kansas City, Mo.
Probability factor: No doubt some pieces of the plan will move forward with Lincoln Saltdogs ownership wanting to make good on the original plan to include a baseball practice field/American Legion venue at Haymarket Park.
So, what's your vision?
You’ve heard a lot from 2015 Vision, the group of Lincoln leaders trying to shape the future of our city. Now they want to hear from you.
The group is planning four community conversations late this month and early next.
The goal: to share information about the projects and discuss what they mean to the city’s future.
The group worked with Leadership Lincoln and several community leaders to put the meetings together. Each session will include an overview of the projects, followed by small-group discussions and a one-hour question-and-answer session.
The meetings are open to the public. Doors open at
5 p.m., presentations begin at 5:30 and the sessions will end by 8:30.
At the end of each, the public will be invited to rank 2015 projects by preference.
* Jan. 29 -- Lincoln High School, 2229 J St.
* Jan. 30 -- Lincoln East High School, 1000 S. 70th St.
* Jan. 31 -- Lincoln North Star High School, 5801 N. 33rd St.
* Feb. 7 -- Scott Middle School, 2200 Pine Lake Road.
Beyond the proposal of a new downtown arena — the centerpiece of the Vision group’s 10 “pillars” — the growing syndicate of business leaders placed a priority on expanding recreational opportunities into undeveloped land south and west of Haymarket Park.
Early discussions focused on several projects many deem as community needs. Among them:
* A second high school football stadium to relieve scheduling conflicts at Seacrest Field.
* A baseball and softball complex with age group-specific fields suitable for hosting regional or national tournaments. Soccer fields also could be included.
* An ice rink that could function as a training facility for young skaters and a romantic getaway for couples.
The Vision group identified upward of 15 local groups, including nonprofit clubs and the University of Nebraska, that might wish to be part of a phased-in expansion.
“We have no idea where this is going,” said Roger Severin, chairman and chief executive officer of Olsson Associates.
“We’re at step one of a multi-step process, and we’re going to need a lot of people to get involved and provide ideas for this.”
The idea of expanding Lincoln’s reputation as a sports city isn’t new.
For as long as fans have been filling Memorial Stadium for NU football Saturdays — a 282-game streak beginning in 1962 — owners of hotels, restaurants and stores have benefited from the significant financial impact that goes hand-in-hand with such events.
In 2003, a study conducted for the Lincoln Convention and Visitors Bureau listed the sports event market among the three greatest opportunities for the city.
The youth sports market is especially attractive because with every participant comes a family. The consulting group estimated that every household coming to town for such an event would spend an average of $286 a night.
With events such as the USSSA baseball age-group state tournaments drawing 150 or more teams to Omaha every Fourth of July weekend, it’s easy to see how the economic impact for such an event could surpass $1 million.
But to compete for such events, Lincoln must have the facilities.
“Lincoln is behind Omaha and other cities when it comes to fields, especially fields for players 14 and under,” said Tim Roberson, who has coached high school softball and youth baseball in Lincoln for several years.
“I’m a real believer baseball needs to be played on baseball fields, and in Lincoln, a lot of baseball is played on softball fields.
“Right now, people have to travel to Omaha or out of state to play at nicer facilities.”
Vision group leaders say the idea behind providing more grass-roots playing fields, whether for baseball, softball, soccer or football, is that while Lincoln prides itself on being a great place to raise a family, its youth are not getting a fair shake when it comes to sports facilities.
The same can be said for the city’s hardworking moms and dads, many of whom in recent years have had to leave jobs early to watch their sons play varsity football on a Friday afternoon, or worse yet, skip the game altogether.
With the addition of Lincoln Southwest and Lincoln North Star high schools in the past five years, scheduling games at Seacrest Field has become more complicated than the cover-two defense.
Even with some games moved to Beechner Field next to Lincoln High, doubleheaders must be scheduled many weeks, with the early game kicking off before 5 p.m.
And games are scheduled on Thursdays, when attendance lags behind that of traditional Friday night games.
Attendance is important in funding athletic programs of Lincoln Public Schools. Lagging gate receipts in football now account for less than 20 percent of the schools’ budget.
Many believe a new facility — dubbed Seacrest West — could help spur attendance.
“It would be fun to be down there, and I would think the people in the Haymarket would be dying to have it,” said Karen Hand, athletic director for LPS. “For many families, it would be great to pick up a nice dinner and go to a game.
“But I’m going to temper all of that with the question, ‘How much is it going to cost me?’”
Abel and Severin declined to get into cost or who would pay for the projects, indicating it’s too early and such discussions could stifle the creativity now at work.
But Abel, the entrepreneur who worked with the city and the university to build Haymarket Park in 2001, said further expanding the recreational opportunities is a “doable project.”
Jeff Maul, executive director of the Visitors Bureau, said there’s now a sense of urgency.
“You give us a set of facilities, and we’re going to sell it,” Maul said. “If you do something like this, it further defines Lincoln’s dedication to wanting to be the sports capital.”
Reach Todd Henrichs at 473-7439 or thenrichs@journalstar.com.
Post Your Comment
Standards and RulesYour posted comment will appear after it has been approved.
Frequently asked questions about story commenting.
Conservative Red wrote on January 21, 2007 12:58 am:
South Paw wrote on January 21, 2007 2:23 am:
Larry wrote on January 21, 2007 8:05 am:
So Glad I Moved... wrote on January 21, 2007 8:50 am:
Dinner and a game? wrote on January 21, 2007 9:16 am:
Erik wrote on January 21, 2007 9:28 am:
JJ wrote on January 21, 2007 9:52 am:
NHRA sports for youth wrote on January 21, 2007 9:59 am:
Again wrote on January 21, 2007 10:40 am:
Baseball fan wrote on January 21, 2007 10:52 am:
KHY wrote on January 21, 2007 11:03 am:
ed wrote on January 21, 2007 11:13 am:
Umbelievable wrote on January 21, 2007 11:54 am:
Tax Revenue wrote on January 21, 2007 12:40 pm:
Again wrote on January 21, 2007 2:18 pm:
Self-serving wrote on January 21, 2007 2:42 pm:
Carla wrote on January 21, 2007 3:21 pm:
The west seems like a great place for it. Please don't let it sprawl to the edges of town and beyond. "
Kaitlin wrote on January 21, 2007 4:39 pm:
hummm wrote on January 21, 2007 5:55 pm:
Erik wrote on January 21, 2007 9:36 pm:
t wrote on January 22, 2007 1:12 pm:
Former Local wrote on January 22, 2007 2:08 pm:
Gr8ful Dude wrote on January 22, 2007 8:09 pm:
sam wrote on January 23, 2007 10:51 am:
in addition wrote on January 23, 2007 4:02 pm:
Been There, Done That wrote on January 23, 2007 4:23 pm:
carl wrote on January 28, 2007 2:54 pm:
yup wrote on September 26, 2007 8:18 am: