Photo: © Visit Lincoln

Assemble Lincoln, Lancaster County, Nebraska’s standing committee overseeing the development of the Downtown Lincoln Convention Center, recently announced that it has tabbed the Garfield Public/Private site near S. 13th and M streets as the selected location for the new convention center, after an exhaustive vetting process that began in the fall of 2023.

The Downtown Lincoln Convention Center project has brought together a partnership team that includes state government leaders from Gov. Jim Pillen’s office, state senators from the Nebraska Legislature, Rep. Mike Flood’s office, Lancaster County, Assemble Lincoln, Legends, Populous, Clark & Enersen and other community partners. The group has worked through the process of identifying the best site for the Downtown Lincoln Convention Center, developing an economic catalyst for the Lincoln community and a meeting place that helps increase the vibrance of the city.

Numerous meetings included public open houses and presentations to gather important feedback from the community. Criteria used in site selection process included the following:

  • Site fundamentals, including site suitability, the size and shape of the parcel, and site utilities.
  • Community integration and growth, including an active urban environment and partnership opportunities.
  • Accessibility and connectivity, including roadway access, traffic flow and pedestrian connectivity.
  • Site environmental impact, including geotechnical, floodplain, easements, liens and restrictions.

Next steps in the process to develop the selected downtown convention center site include beginning outreach and preliminary negotiations with landowners of the parcels being considered for development, submitting Lancaster County’s Turn Back Tax application to the state of Nebraska, understanding the anticipated timeline of approval of the application and when funds would become available if approved, determining a schedule for issuing design, preconstruction and construction management requests for proposal, and building a master schedule and budget for development of the selected site.

Jason Ball, the president and CEO of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce, notes, “Today’s announcement marks important progress towards a central element of the Vitality Lincoln Strategic Plan. A downtown convention center will greatly enhance our ability to attract meetings and groups to our community. This is a tremendous opportunity for the Visit Lincoln division of the Lincoln Chamber to continue growing Lincoln as a destination as the tourism economy evolves.”

For continued updates on the convention center project, visit assemblelincoln.com.