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Updated: 11:37 AM May 5, 2010
Haymarket Arena: Vote 2010
Lincoln This week 10/11 will cover the arena story in a special five-part series. This is the first, covering the nuts and bolts of the proposed arena project.
Posted: 10:26 PM Feb 7, 2010Reporter: Keller Russell Email Address: Keller.Russell@1011now.com |
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14 Comments 
Poll 
It could be one of the biggest decisions some of you make this year -- voting on a new arena.
The Lincoln City Council will decide Monday whether or not the issue will be on a May ballot.
10/11 will be covering the issue in a special five-part series with the first story covering the "nuts and bolts" of the project.
On The Ballot: Lincoln Haymarket Arena Bond Issue
Statewide Primary Election
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Here's the wording voters will see on the ballot:
"Shall the city of Lincoln, Nebraska issue its arena bonds in a principal amount not to exceed $25,000,000 for the purpose of paying a portion of the costs incident to acquiring, constructing, equipping and furnishing the Lincoln Haymarket Arena and related facilities and improvements, such bonds to be dated at the time of their issuance, to become due and payable on such dates, to bear interest at such rates and to have such other terms as may be fixed by the city at the time of their issuance, and to be payable from the income, proceeds and revenue of the Lincoln haymarket arena and related facilities and improvements, from state appropriations under the convention center facility financing assistance act and/or other state sources and from other available revenue, income and receipts of the city, including certain city sales, use,occupation and/or property tax revenue, fees or receipts, sufficient to pay the principal of and the interest on said bonds as they become due and payable, provided, however, that approval of this bond issue will not cause any increase in the property tax levy millage limit of the city?"
It's been in the works since about 2004, but now a new, 16,000 seat, state of the art arena is coming to life - at least on paper.
The arena price tag --$181 million. Add in the work it will take to make the dream a reality and city officials estimate the project to require $340 million of public funding.
"They've underestimated the revenues and overestimated the expenses. I am very comfortable going to the citizens and saying we will not have a property tax increase with this," said Dick Campbell, Chair of of a group known as Citizens For Jobs and Lincoln Haymarket.
Construction costs will include new and altered roads, utilities and the relocation of train tracks of both Burlington Northern Santa Fe and Union Pacific. The railroad adjustments will eat up about $49 million. The city has to buy land from both companies in order to develop the area it would like, for the arena.
As part of the $340 million project, the city has allocated about $7.5 million to cover any expenses from environmental damage that may occur.
Then, there's the issue of creating enough parking.
"Parking garages are around $35 million and that provides the surface parking and the two big garages," said Campbell.
So how does the city plan to pay for all of it?
A significant portion -- $194 million -- will be paid for by increased taxes from hotel rooms, rental cars, bars and restaurants. The occupation tax on hotel rooms and rental cars would be four percent while bars and restaurants would see a new two percent tax.
"One of the nice things about bar and restaurant taxes as opposed types of taxes is that the people that eat in our restaurants are not just local, Lincoln residents, they're people we bring in for events like that would happen at the arena," said Dan Marvin, the city's arena coordinator.
Together, city officials say those taxes will cover about 40 percent of the arena cost.
The arena itself is expected to generate about $95 million dollars over 30 years and would become the new home for Husker basketball games and Lincoln's other big events.
Latest Comments
Please, read this slowly: the Devaney center is owned by the university. The city of Lincoln can't say a thing about how it is run or who gets to use it anymore than I can tell you how to use your car. As far as street repair can I ask you an honest question? Did you vote for or against the street bond issue a few years back? And tom, if you'd like to continue driving up to Omaha to save 2 percent off your restaurant bill have at it. I have a feeling the gas you'd spend would be a bit more than 2 percent. And if you decide to stay overnight there the tax on the hotel room is considerably higher than Lincoln's already. Some people would probably cut off their nose to spite their face...
As someone who comes to Lincoln from York to shop and eat out i really will have to rethink coming to Lincoln in the future if i'm expected to help pay for YOUR new Arena by paying a 2% increase in my restaurant bill, everytime i eat in Lincoln
why not use the money to fix and repair the fair grounds?they said it would take alot of money that the city does'nt have to redo the fair grounds!hmm,where did they get this money?so why not do us all a fovor and redo the fair grounds and quit trying to find other ways to fix the dead downtown area!there is no room and the haymarket area would still serve its purpose!after all the bridge they built didnt work or that dumb walk-way bridge across "O" street between 11th and twelvth street didnt bring in any new business or revenues like they said it would!or why not help out the homeless here!the city said that re-doing pershing would help the economy,it didnt!i know!why not fix the streets!or, why not use the devaney center?it still works!or maybe create some real jobs here!!there is alot of ways to use the money for lincoln!i dont think a new arena will help.i think the fairgrounds is the place to fix,and then lincolnites will actually have something to smile about and be proud of!
Hmm...lets see. Downtown areas in cities die because they are outdated, have narrow streets, no parking and traffic flow problems. Because they are rooted in the past. Perhaps we should just kill downtown and build something better. Instead of trying to revitalize a dead zone. If you want to build a major event center don't build it in the middle of a deteriorating congested mess. Build it somewhere that makes sense. Someplace with enough parking, ease of access and not in a flood plane. Naw...lets waste more money on downtown! At least then all the yuppies can go have coffee and watch while they pump the place out after the first flood.
Good Idea/Bad Location. The Haymarket is a TERRIBLE place to try to squeeze an arena into. A new arena would be nice, but wouldn't it be a better fit, not to mention MUCH less expensive to build it near the Antelope Valley area, or near where the Perhsing Center is now. If it were in one of those locations, buildings or houses might need to be torn down, but in the Haymarket, buildings would still need to be torn down, railroad tracks would need to be moved, parking needs to be built, and new roads would need to be built, too. No wonder this budget is getting so costly! In another area of downtown, there will still be restaurants, parking, and hotels within walking distance. Wouldn't access to Lincoln's main Post Office be greatly affected too? Please keep the Haymarket enjoyable, and don't force everyone to pay so much to eat, shop in or otherwise enjoy visting Lincoln. The idea is nice, but the spot for it isn't going to work! If I could vote on this, I'd vote No!
Holy negativity, Batman! I'm in favor of the arena. It doesn't seem to me like we're trying to compete with the Qwest. It DOES seem like we're realizing Pershing is completely outdated and we're trying to grow our city and move forward. With the help of the JPA, the city WILL be able to bear the tax burden, and this will be a facility we'll use for many, many years. Arguing about the location is a moot point now. That will not be on the ballot.
If I'm not mistaken, most of the Arena will be in the flood plane? If this is the case, someone other than the taxpayers will probably be the real winner. Promoters and developers with money always seem to get waivers to build where others aren't able. I could be wrong, but I get the feeling a lot of taxpayer dollars will be going into the wrong pockets......
People in Lincoln complain that traveltime to Omaha for shows etc are excessive. We can get to the Omaha arena in less than one hour. In Houston it takes longer than that sitting in line to park. The city cannot afford the additional tax burden, plus the problems that will come when the arena isn't paying for itself. Vote should be held with major elections in Nov not local in May. Lets at least get a good turnout of all voters. NO to the arena for now at least.
If the arena was on the outskirts of town, only those with cars could go. Downtown has plenty of parking garages, walking space, and environment. The planners already figured all of these details out-read the report, it's available from this site, and if full of hundreds of pages of data relevant to these issues. Most don't want to study the facts before opening up their big mouths.
Remember-the Qwest center is losing money. If ball games go there, what will hapen with the Devaney Center? Pershing? You want to build but what about what is left behind? I do not like the size and design of the building. I think they are overestimating the revenue. Lincoln has better things to spend 190 million dollars on. Think about this--the thing gets built and in 5-10 years it is hardly used and is costing YOU money to operate and upkeep. Think about that!
Ida, I'm not sure which out of state people you are referring to but anyone from a larger city, will not likely be too bothered by Lincoln traffic, it's really not as bad as people like to think. Now out of towners, perhaps from more rural parts will have a harder time with traffic, heavy or not because it's not the norm for them. Moving the Arena to the outskirts of town won't help them. There will still be heavy traffic during events. They seem to do fine with Husker football games, so I don't see how this would be any different. Additionally part of the hope is that the Arena will bring some 'life' to downtown Lincoln, which has struggled for years. Urban sprawl always hurts a cities downtown and Lincoln has plenty of sprawl. So moving the Arena on the outskirts only increases sprawl and hurts the revitalization of the downtown area.
What % of business does Dan Marvin really think restaurants/bars get from outside Lincoln? I'm willing to bet less than 5%.
Why put it in downtown there is enough congestion There is a lot of room out twards the truck stop to the west and people would be more willing to go to it . out state people don't like to drive in Lincoln when there is a lot of trafic . It also leads to a lot of accidents
They always get these put on the ballot for local elections, because there is very low voter turnout. If they had widespread public support, they'd put them on during a federal election, and save the county and city a lot of money.
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