Omaha Forums

Coyote wrote:

Coyote wrote:Has anyone been to the Sweatshop Gallery on 62nd. They are supposed to be an Avant-Garde artistic collaboration, and I see they will be having the band Perfect Pussy there next month?

It looks like their run is about to end...

They are still going to do live music I think. Maybe a new artist can come in and bring a fresh batch of energy and ideas in the coming years.

Opening soon:

BTW... I must have missed the fact that DT Benson has new Street names:

Linkin5 wrote:

mr. omaha wrote:I just walked up to DTBenson and the new sidewalk between Baxter's and Jane's is TERRIBLE. It undulates like a friggin' roller coaster and half of it is sloped towards the street to the point where it's almost unwalkable. Seriously, it's like 30 degrees sloped. Someone at the City needs to be made aware of this and hold the contractor accountable. Who from the City is in charge of quality control on this project and who is signing off on the contractor's work?? This absolutely needs to be fixed. Who do I contact??

Hmm just walked it, didn't think itvwas bad.

It actually was really bad in front of the Sidney. I didn't notice it infront of Baxter's or Jane's though.

iamjacobm wrote:

Linkin5 wrote:

mr. omaha wrote:I just walked up to DTBenson and the new sidewalk between Baxter's and Jane's is TERRIBLE. It undulates like a friggin' roller coaster and half of it is sloped towards the street to the point where it's almost unwalkable. Seriously, it's like 30 degrees sloped. Someone at the City needs to be made aware of this and hold the contractor accountable. Who from the City is in charge of quality control on this project and who is signing off on the contractor's work?? This absolutely needs to be fixed. Who do I contact??

Hmm just walked it, didn't think itvwas bad. :shrug:

It actually was really bad in front of the Sidney. I didn't notice it infront of Baxter's or Jane's though.

The fact that it is bad anywhere really sucks. It's like they are going at it half-arse. Why can't they use their whole arse?

I just can't imagine BID is OK with how it's turning out. It looks cheaply done and almost brutalist. But this is the type of shoddy outcome one gets when "Get R' Done" is more important than do a quality job.

I just walked up to downtown Benson and now that the sidewalk project is done, it's painfully apparent that the city of Omaha screwed up the look and feel of this neighborhood. It is nothing but a concrete and trash can jungle. Walk down it next time you're up here and tell me I'm wrong. Benson has lost all of the quaintness and real urban feel it once had. It no longer feels like a little downtown. Seriously, downtown Benson became the great place it is all on it's own, it was grassroots and genuine, and then the city of Omaha decided "oh, here's a great up an coming part of town, let's put our stupid mits on it" and now it feels NOTHING like it did before this sidewalk project. Par for the course for Omaha. Take something great and F it up with poor ideas, poor planning, and even poorer execution.

The city didn't just come in and force this. The business owners here had a part in the project.

This seems like a really big overreaction, it's just new sidewalks and benches, the city didn't knock down buildings and build a strip mall.

I don't think it's a big deal I think the businesses and buildings have a lot more impact than the sidewalk and benches.

But I do think it was poorly executed. Some of the sidewalk is so slanted it's hard to walk on in heels (I've been told) let alone drunk in heels, the concrete benches look way worse than the old benches.

Dundeemaha wrote: Some of the sidewalk is so slanted it's hard to walk on in heels (I've been told) let alone drunk in heels

Pics? Are there street trees?

TitosBuritoBarn wrote:Pics? Are there street trees?

You can actually see some of it done if you look through google street view. No trees thus far, which is disappointing.

Linkin5 wrote:

TitosBuritoBarn wrote:Pics? Are there street trees?

You can actually see some of it done if you look through google street view. No trees thus far, which is disappointing.

Looked at it in front of 1912. It looks fine! I think it jives with the neighborhood pretty well. But I assume some sort of plant life is going in the dirt areas they've carved out?

I don't like the Benson sign at Maple and NW Radial though. It looks like something they'd put at the entry to a Hearthstone Home subdivision. Doesn't really match the culture of the area much.

I like that they widened the sidewalk.

What good is it to have wider sidewalks if half of it is sloped so much you can't safely walk on them? Furthermore, what good is it to have wider sidewalks if they are then blocked off by trash cans everywhere? One has to pay more attention walking down Maple after these pedestrian "improvements" than they did before.

What sense does it make to pay for new fancy metal benches only to clump them all together on an inclined side street instead of putting them where those brutalist concrete blocks are along Maple?

What sense does it make to have a welcome sign that better represents west Omaha than the creative spirit of Benson?

Why should business owners bother to renovate their building facades when they end up getting splattered with concrete from wet sawing and the mess is not cleaned up?

Why bother to renovate the inside of a building if the new sidewalk poured outside your front door now directs rainwater into your basement?

I firmly stand by my assessment that Benson's streetscape is far worse now because of the sidewalk project. Look at the Benson project vs. Dundee's in terms of planning, execution, and quality of the finished product. Maybe the difference is Festersen lives in Dundee? The BID board should be furious and if they're not, they should be replaced. At a minimum, the PM at OPW should be fired for signing off on the QC punch list for this project.

I've lived in Benson for several years. I love Benson and I only want what is best for it.

I agree that this project has not lived up to what was billed. I just wonder if the monetary support wasn't there to do it any better. We don't know what kind of support people gave to this project compared to Dundee.

mr. omaha wrote:What good is it to have wider sidewalks if half of it is sloped so much you can't safely walk on them? Furthermore, what good is it to have wider sidewalks if they are then blocked off by trash cans everywhere? One has to pay more attention walking down Maple after these pedestrian "improvements" than they did before.

What sense does it make to pay for new fancy metal benches only to clump them all together on an inclined side street instead of putting them where those brutalist concrete blocks are along Maple?

What sense does it make to have a welcome sign that better represents west Omaha than the creative spirit of Benson?

Why should business owners bother to renovate their building facades when they end up getting splattered with concrete from wet sawing and the mess is not cleaned up?

Why bother to renovate the inside of a building if the new sidewalk poured outside your front door now directs rainwater into your basement?

I firmly stand by my assessment that Benson's streetscape is far worse now because of the sidewalk project. Look at the Benson project vs. Dundee's in terms of planning, execution, and quality of the finished product. Maybe the difference is Festersen lives in Dundee? The BID board should be furious and if they're not, they should be replaced. At a minimum, the PM at OPW should be fired for signing off on the QC punch list for this project.

I've lived in Benson for several years. I love Benson and I only want what is best for it.

Sounds like instead of hiring a legit concrete contractor they hired one of those construction companies made up of two Americans and 10 illegal immigrants. You get what you pay for.

I was there last week and didn't notice anything unappealing about the sidewalk. I forgot to look actually and nothing stood out.

mr. omaha wrote:What sense does it make to have a welcome sign that better represents west Omaha than the creative spirit of Benson?

Speaking to the sign when I saw the pics of this cool project in CB I thought about what a missed opportunity to make Benson standout from the rest of the city.

iamjacobm wrote:

mr. omaha wrote:What sense does it make to have a welcome sign that better represents west Omaha than the creative spirit of Benson?

Speaking to the sign when I saw the pics of this cool project in CB I thought about what a missed opportunity to make Benson standout from the rest of the city.

No shite. Even something like that bench would have been more "Benson".

Oh, and by the way, anyone notice the "old" trash bins are back on the strip?

Those lightpost banners should have read "Building A Worse Benson".

DUNCERY!!!

I hadn't been to Benson in months, so I decided to go last night and pay attention to the sidewalks. I thought the new sidewalks were great! The crosswalks for wheelchairs were nice. The sidewalks were smooth and seemed wider. Overall I think it is quite an improvement.

I went to Benson Brewery since another thread mentioned new management, brewmaster and chef. I wasn't impressed.

Omg, it's perfect!

Some updates around Benson. Looks like Imaginarium is closed for good, the entire place has been emptied. The new pizza place that had an ad up on the storefront is now gone with "for rent" signs everywhere. Also, St. Andrew's new beer garden addition looks like its well underway, the building is gutted and I saw some people doing work.

Linkin5 wrote:Some updates around Benson. Looks like Imaginarium is closed for good, the entire place has been emptied. The new pizza place that had an ad up on the storefront is now gone with "for rent" signs everywhere. Also, St. Andrew's new beer garden addition looks like its well underway, the building is gutted and I saw some people doing work.

I was told that the Imaginarium space already has a renter. Not sure who it is though?

Does anyone know what is sharing the old Benson Appliance store with Lot2?

vonski wrote:Does anyone know what is sharing the old Benson Appliance store with Lot2?

No, but did you see the old signage under the old appliance marquee? It says something like, "Gerda's Heavenly Cakes." It looks like it is from the 40's or 50's. My mom grew up in Benson and doesn't even remember that being there.

vonski wrote:Does anyone know what is sharing the old Benson Appliance store with Lot2?

Looks like this is going to be "Studio ThatWay". Not sure exactly what it is, I assume either an art or recording studio.

vonski wrote:Does anyone know what is sharing the old Benson Appliance store with Lot2?

Lot 2 is expanding to have additional seating.

I believe the space had previously been studio that way. Lot 2 is taking a small portion of the building on the east end for the private seating area. The Benson Facebook page had hinted about something new taking over the remaining space.

I made a directory for the Benson threads. Its on the very first post of this thread and copied below. It's still a work in progress, but a good start.

-#-
1912 Restaurant & Bar - Downtown Benson

-A-
Au Courant

-B-
Beercade
Benson Lights - 3030 N 60th St
Bärchen - 6209 Maple Street - Downtown Benson
Bin 61 - TACK Architects (2922 N. 61st St)
The Benson Theater (6054 Maple Street)
Benson Brewery & Tavern (6059 Maple St)
Bank of the West (60th and Military)

-E-
España

-I-
Infusion Brewing Company

-J-
Joe's Cafe

-K-
Krug Park

-L-
Leo's Diner
Local Ice Creamery (LIC)
Lot 2

-O-
Omaha Bicycle Co.
Overflow Lounge - 1016 Maple - Downtown Benson

-S-
|expletive| Sushi (Yo$hitomo Sushi)
St. Andrews Pub
Star Deli

-T-
Taita (seafood - Benson) CLOSED
Ted & Wally's - Localmotive

-W-
The Waiting Room

Benson's Walgreen is for sale ($6.2m).
I wonder what is going on here...

Coyote wrote:Benson's Walgreen is for sale ($6.2m).
I wonder what is going on here...

Who owns the building now?

Coyote wrote:Benson's Walgreen is for sale ($6.2m).
I wonder what is going on here...

I bet its just for sale as an investment property that comes with Walgreen's lease.

Padre wrote:

Coyote wrote:Benson's Walgreen is for sale ($6.2m).
I wonder what is going on here...

Who owns the building now?

Board of Educational Lands, Deerfield IL.

Brad wrote:

Coyote wrote:Benson's Walgreen is for sale ($6.2m).
I wonder what is going on here...

I bet its just for sale as an investment property that comes with Walgreen's lease.

Or they are building two new ones about a 1/4 mile in each direction

nebugeater wrote:

Brad wrote:

Coyote wrote:Benson's Walgreen is for sale ($6.2m).
I wonder what is going on here...

I bet its just for sale as an investment property that comes with Walgreen's lease.

Or they are building two new ones about a 1/4 mile in each direction

The "new" Walgreen's in Benson is only 1/4 mile or less from the old location. The new location is only a few years old. The old location is now a goodwill or something long those lines.

Coyote wrote:

Padre wrote:

Coyote wrote:Benson's Walgreen is for sale ($6.2m).
I wonder what is going on here...

Who owns the building now?

Board of Educational Lands, Deerfield IL.

Odd. Not sure what the Board of Educational Lands is, but Walgreen's corporate headquarters is in Deerfield.

A Mexican restaurant, office furniture showroom and a few small office suites will go in this building.

See the building on 6121 Maple St is now for sale on loopnet next to 1912. Would be a nice addition to the area

Appears that the space next to Star Deli is going to be spruced up and marketed.