Centennial Mall in Lincoln is falling apart.

"Almost every element of this needs to be replaced," said Lynn Johnson the Parks and Recreation Director. " Most of the fountains are not operational, the paving is heaved and cracked and impossible to repair, the landscaping and the trees are damaged at this point."

So, the City has committed $2.2 million to assist in funding essential improvements to the Lincoln Landmark.

"It's continuing to deteriorate and we hear constantly about the difficulty people have moving up and down the mall so its key to get it done from a safety perspective," said Johnson. "We also know that this is one of the post card images of the capital building and of Lincoln as the capital city, so it's an image aspect as well."

"It's really in bad repair and it's been in bad repair for a long time and it's not safe," said Dennis Scheer, the principal architect for Clark Enersen Partners in Lincoln. "To let it go to the point it has now is really kind of a black mark on our city and we just really need to take care of it."

The design team - headed up by the Clark Enersen Partners - will create new landscaping and green spaces and address safety and accessibility issues.

"Our vision is really to take the best of the best of the past planning processes and use new technology," said Scheer. "Make this a sustainable kind of place that's environmentally friendly and tell the story of the capital you see when you go inside of it."

To make the area surrounding the capital as beautiful as the building itself.

The City hopes that over the coming years, the state, the University of Nebraska and private investors will make up the remaining $5 million to make this project a possibility.