Get ready to celebrate Innovation Park
Lincoln leaders aren’t just putting on a brave face about the Ag Committee’s vote Monday to move the state fair to Grand Island.
They truly are excited that the way is being cleared for creation of a new research and development campus for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
And they should be.
Innovation Park is a big, bold, exhilarating plan.
It’s also realistic.
The more study that was given to the proposed Innovation Park, the better it looked. Those who have thoroughly researched the concept concluded, as Gov. Dave Heineman put it, that the proposal is “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
It’s almost unimaginable that a major university could have a 251-acre tract available right next to campus.
Its location is the key. As UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman wrote last year in a Local View column, “It has been demonstrated around the country that the single most important factor in the success of these types of developments is their location.
“Private sector technology companies want to be on a university campus with easy access to faculty who share research interests, to students who can serve as interns and to classes that can provide continuing education to their employees.”
Creating Innovation Park will attract hundreds of millions in private investment and will result in the creation of hundreds or thousands of quality jobs. Its development will create a new, thriving, attractive area in the heart of the city.
There should be no second thoughts about the decision to move the fair from the existing fairgrounds.
There should, however, be some reflection on how the decision was made to chose the Grand Island site.
The dynamics of the decision-making bother us.
Grand Island put together a good package and pursued the fair with focused zeal.
Lincoln had a tougher time putting together its pitch. Lincoln officials had to concentrate on the No. 1 objective, getting State Fair Park for UNL. Hard feelings on the part of some fair board members apparently made it difficult to evaluate the merits of the alternatives objectively.
Also troublesome was the role of Lancaster Event Center officials. State Fair Director Barney Cosner said Monday that Event Center officials didn’t want to board horses during the horseracing season now held at State Fair Park. After that declaration on Feb. 26, Cosner said, “it didn’t take long to narrow the field.”
From this perspective, that seems like a case of the tail wagging the dog.
In addressing the bill that came from the Ag Committee, members of the full Legislature should assure themselves that they are choosing the site that will best serve the future of the fair and all Nebraskans.
And if the answer still is to move the fair to Grand Island, then Lincoln residents should have no regrets. As Mayor Chris Beutler put it, “We need the Innovation Park more than anything. That’s our future.”
They truly are excited that the way is being cleared for creation of a new research and development campus for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
And they should be.
Innovation Park is a big, bold, exhilarating plan.
It’s also realistic.
The more study that was given to the proposed Innovation Park, the better it looked. Those who have thoroughly researched the concept concluded, as Gov. Dave Heineman put it, that the proposal is “the opportunity of a lifetime.”
It’s almost unimaginable that a major university could have a 251-acre tract available right next to campus.
Its location is the key. As UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman wrote last year in a Local View column, “It has been demonstrated around the country that the single most important factor in the success of these types of developments is their location.
“Private sector technology companies want to be on a university campus with easy access to faculty who share research interests, to students who can serve as interns and to classes that can provide continuing education to their employees.”
Creating Innovation Park will attract hundreds of millions in private investment and will result in the creation of hundreds or thousands of quality jobs. Its development will create a new, thriving, attractive area in the heart of the city.
There should be no second thoughts about the decision to move the fair from the existing fairgrounds.
There should, however, be some reflection on how the decision was made to chose the Grand Island site.
The dynamics of the decision-making bother us.
Grand Island put together a good package and pursued the fair with focused zeal.
Lincoln had a tougher time putting together its pitch. Lincoln officials had to concentrate on the No. 1 objective, getting State Fair Park for UNL. Hard feelings on the part of some fair board members apparently made it difficult to evaluate the merits of the alternatives objectively.
Also troublesome was the role of Lancaster Event Center officials. State Fair Director Barney Cosner said Monday that Event Center officials didn’t want to board horses during the horseracing season now held at State Fair Park. After that declaration on Feb. 26, Cosner said, “it didn’t take long to narrow the field.”
From this perspective, that seems like a case of the tail wagging the dog.
In addressing the bill that came from the Ag Committee, members of the full Legislature should assure themselves that they are choosing the site that will best serve the future of the fair and all Nebraskans.
And if the answer still is to move the fair to Grand Island, then Lincoln residents should have no regrets. As Mayor Chris Beutler put it, “We need the Innovation Park more than anything. That’s our future.”
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