Baxter Arena (67th & Center Street)

Linkin5 · Post by **Linkin5** » Mon Aug 24, 2015 10:06 pm

skinzfan23 wrote:
nativeomahan wrote:Does anyone know why this arena was set back so very far from the street, unlike the CenturyLink Center, or even the old Civic? I think this showed very poor planning.
I agree...I drove by in the daylight today for the first time in a long time and I think they could have made it much more impressive if the building was right on Center. It just looks like a regular suburban arena the way it is. The Centurylink looks much better for pedestrians. I know that atmosphere inside at the hockey games is going to be better but this appears like it may be a dead zone when there are not events going on. They really shut off the development on the south side of Center.

Would have given the whole area a lot more electric too.

Omaha1000 · Post by **Omaha1000** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 12:20 pm

As a fairly regular visitor to the Aksarben area (mostly by bicycle), we've enjoyed seeing the construction progress during the past five months. I really wanted to like this arena, but the exterior is so bland. The rest of Aksarben, including UNO's dorms, looks quite nice. As far as location, UNO students that live in dorms on the "main" campus will still mostly need to drive to the new arena, especially during the winter months. If part of Elmwood Park was not an option, I wish it could have been more on the west edge of Aksarben, near 72nd Street.

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 12:29 pm

Without having been inside, I really like the interior so far, but I feel that the overall site plan and exterior were a big miss. I don't know if it was budget or poor planning but as I mentioned earlier, the building could front Center with the parking placed behind it. It is going to take some really amazing landscaping to make it blend in well with AV.

I still remember this early rendering and thought how cool the building could have looked.

Omaha1000 · Post by **Omaha1000** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 12:38 pm

There is still hope that the arena will look nice at night. I agree that the arena should have been built nearer Center Street with parking in the back. I can't understand why the experienced professionals who designed it didn't think so.

Busguy2010 · Post by **Busguy2010** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 2:57 pm

I think it would have been great had they positioned it east of 67th and so that the straight edge of it was facing Center Have a big pedestrian plaza in front of that so it is somewhat set back from the street. Sort of like the way Aksarben Cinema looks when you walk up to it. And then have all the lots to the south and across 67th street. That's not how it turned out though

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 3:26 pm

All that parking is going to be packed on a daily basis from students. The back lot that is finished was nearly fully when I got there at 930 this morning. The fact that they aren't making you get a permit is going to draw a ton of people to these lots.

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 3:29 pm

iamjacobm wrote:All that parking is going to be packed on a daily basis from students. The back lot that is finished was nearly fully when I got there at 930 this morning. The fact that they aren't making you get a permit is going to draw a ton of people to these lots.

I am sure the parking lots will be full, but I am not sure that is the view we want people to see from AV or driving down Center. It would have been better to have the parking "hidden" behind the arena.

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 3:41 pm

skinzfan23 wrote:
iamjacobm wrote:All that parking is going to be packed on a daily basis from students. The back lot that is finished was nearly fully when I got there at 930 this morning. The fact that they aren't making you get a permit is going to draw a ton of people to these lots.
I am sure the parking lots will be full, but I am not sure that is the view we want people to see from AV or driving down Center. It would have been better to have the parking "hidden" behind the arena.

I don't disagree about that it would look more impressive near Center. I just give UNO a lot more credit now a days, most of their decisions are well thought out with a view for the next 10+ years in mind. I will have to ask my buddy that did a lot of on campus design work for UNO if he knows anything about the specifics of keeping it off Center.

Post by **Coyote** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 6:11 pm

iamjacobm wrote:All that parking is going to be packed on a daily basis from students. The back lot that is finished was nearly fully when I got there at 930 this morning. The fact that they aren't making you get a permit is going to draw a ton of people to these lots.

When I drove past the Baxter around 4:00 this evening and saw at least 6-10 buses shuttling students.

daveoma · Post by **daveoma** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:52 pm

iamjacobm wrote:All that parking is going to be packed on a daily basis from students. The back lot that is finished was nearly fully when I got there at 930 this morning. The fact that they aren't making you get a permit is going to draw a ton of people to these lots.

Does the UNO shuttle go that far south?

iamjacobm · Post by **iamjacobm** » Tue Aug 25, 2015 8:53 pm

daveoma wrote:
iamjacobm wrote:All that parking is going to be packed on a daily basis from students. The back lot that is finished was nearly fully when I got there at 930 this morning. The fact that they aren't making you get a permit is going to draw a ton of people to these lots.
Does the UNO shuttle go that far south?

Since they pulled out of the Crossroads garage they shifted the shuttle over there.

2Adam29 · Post by **2Adam29** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 7:42 am

I wonder if they put it back so far to prevent the residents and businesses there from making a parking fuss. I could see if you have an out of town person attend an event there and go to park their car, there's a nicer chance they look for parking in Aksarben Village if they don't see the ample parking in front of the stadium first.

Post by **Coyote** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 6:22 pm

10:00 News on 7 will feature a story on traffic around the Baxter.....

Post by **Brad** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:40 pm

Missed the story, but here is my own opinion... Traffic should be fine, but everyone will take center and jack it all up... Anyone that's smart will take any of the other 4 streets in...

Either Way, here is a photo update from tonight.
1.

2.

PotatoeEatsFish · Post by **PotatoeEatsFish** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:42 pm

Kind of reminds me of the Ralston Arena.

U R my Helix · Post by **U R my Helix** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 10:52 pm

Brad wrote:Traffic should be fine, but everyone will take center and jack it all up...

Brad I wish we would have asked you to take photos of center street since 2007 Mostly to show the rush hour backups. Google street view shows a few of them over the years. Gotta love progress (or so I am told).

jessep28 · Post by **jessep28** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:18 pm

Just like how everyone from out West takes the Cuming exit on 75 to get to the CenturyLink Center when there are like eight other ways to get there.

Post by **Coyote** » Wed Aug 26, 2015 11:40 pm

I have already found my new favorite way out of 4pm AV now that the back roads are open...

Seth · Post by **Seth** » Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:24 am

Coyote wrote:I have already found my new favorite way out of 4pm AV now that the back roads are open...

Careful what you say, or others may catch on and clog it up too

Post by **Brad** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 3:44 pm

The Ribbon Boards are installed an working. Driving down Center Street last night you could see them on inside the arena! It was just after sunset, but not dark and they were so bright, you couldn't miss them if you were looking at the arena...

Post by **Coyote** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 8:36 pm

Scoreboard/speakers sitting in the middle of the rink...

Post by **Brad** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:23 pm

Coyote wrote:Scoreboard/speakers sitting in the middle of the rink...

Been there since July...

Post by **Coyote** » Wed Sep 02, 2015 10:25 pm

UNO Alumni Associations Maverick Monument head is installed at the Baxter Arena.

: image.jpg (169.02 KiB) Viewed 3108 times

Post by **Coyote** » Sat Sep 05, 2015 1:26 am

Post by **Coyote** » Fri Sep 11, 2015 9:58 pm

PotatoeEatsFish · Post by **PotatoeEatsFish** » Sat Sep 12, 2015 3:47 am

Its like Ralston Arena, only this one looks like it won't suck!

Post by **Brad** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 11:41 am

Pretty cool they let people in the Athletic Department paint the ice!

http://www.wowt.com/home/headlines/This ... 18411.html

Post by **Brad** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 12:29 pm

UNO put out this timelapse:

[youtube][/youtube]

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Fri Sep 18, 2015 2:08 pm

Looks great!

Post by **Brad** » Sun Sep 20, 2015 12:47 pm

They got the "O" up. Looks great, but I with it was larger and there were more than one...

Post by **Brad** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 8:45 pm

There are a ton of photo from today's Flush Off on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram from all the students and alumni that attended today. Place is looking Awesome with all the finishing details.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Tue Sep 29, 2015 8:57 pm

How's this thing looking at night do they have any cool lighting going on?

skinzfan23 · Post by **skinzfan23** » Wed Sep 30, 2015 9:31 am

Here is one of the scoreboard:

Greg S · Post by **Greg S** » Wed Sep 30, 2015 9:36 am

PotatoeEatsFish wrote:Its like Ralston Arena, only this one looks like it won't suck!

To me it does not look like Ralston at all. Even from the outside, Ralston looks like a giant metal shed. Also the big glass wall for the community ice rink looks nothing like Ralston.

Greg

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Wed Sep 30, 2015 1:28 pm

So did they dump it into the creak or the city sewer system?

Post by **Brad** » Wed Sep 30, 2015 1:30 pm

MTO wrote:So did they dump it into the creak or the city sewer system?

Seriously? You can't dump sewage in to a creek. Heck, you can't even dump rain water in to a creek anymore without filtering it.

Post by **Coyote** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:20 pm

The bridge over the Papio is now open.

Post by **Brad** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:20 pm

All Roads are open!

Here is a preview form tonight.

1.

MTO · Post by **MTO** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:37 pm

Damn was hoping for just a little bit of accent lighting.

Post by **Brad** » Thu Oct 01, 2015 9:38 pm

MTO wrote:darn was hoping for just a little bit of accent lighting.

A red neon stripe or something could have been cool, but I think it looks great.