Omaha River Walk

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Catherine33
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Omaha River Walk

Post by Catherine33 »

Pretty new to the board, so I am not sure if this topic has ever come up but I have been hearing that an Omaha River Walk similar to San Antonio is a very real possibility. It is my understanding that the right people on the developer side and the city side would really like to see this happen and happen soon. The library would have to move, which the Mayor obviously wants and then the River Walk would be created along the Mall. It would be a natural extension of the Old Market with some shops, eateries, living space... the usual. Sounds like a very cool idea which I really hope comes to fruition. Love to hear what others think or may have heard on this topic.
Omaha_corn_burner
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Omaha_corn_burner »

I'm going to need MUCH more information.

Are you saying they would dig canals off of the river and route them through downtown or north downtown?
Would the walkway be just a few feet above the water?
What happens during floods?
Boat rides?

There's a HUGE difference between the San Antonio River and the Missouri river.
bigredmed
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by bigredmed »

Way back (way back) in the Sorensen/Zorinsky eras there was the talk of making a giant marina where Heartland park is and connecting the Missouri to what became the Leahy's Mall lagoon. The cost and the need to move busy UP tracks along with the thought that a marina wouldn't get used much canned the idea. There may be renderings of this in the "Projects Never Built" section.

When you look at other cities, the call to skip it was probably correct as far as usage. Just not a lot of boaters anymore.
Catherine33
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Catherine33 »

My impression was that what is being considered is basically take some of the open areas around the Leahy Mall and transform that into a "River Walk" area. I am not talking about the actual Missouri River, canals or anything like that.
daveoma
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by daveoma »

Catherine33 wrote:My impression was that what is being considered is basically take some of the open areas around the Leahy Mall and transform that into a "River Walk" area. I am not talking about the actual Missouri River, canals or anything like that.
Interesting idea. I think a tranquil river walk would be a nice contrast to the noisy traffic. I even like the idea of having a boardwalk right against the river.
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GetUrban
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by GetUrban »

It seems unlikely it would happen as a connection between the GLM and river, mainly because of the elevation difference and the need to have a levy protecting downtown. Recent talk of renovations to GLM have actually talked about raising more of it up closer to street level and also building an 11th street pedestrian bridge across the lagoon. HDR brought up the 11th street bridge idea again when they were still committed to downtown for their new office building. It would still be worth doing even without HDR.

That isn't to say some kind of river walk couldn't be built along the river if you could deal with the railroad and other obstacles. But the Missouri is a different animal than the San Antonio River, although their flooding problems were eliminated with flood gates and a bypass of the river-walk area.
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guy4omaha
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by guy4omaha »

The Lormung Lo Lagoon idea survives, it will never die! :lol:
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Greg S
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Greg S »

I think if Leahy mall was at Street level and could better tie in with the buildings around it, you could do something. Unfortunately with the way they built it down below street level, it won't happen.

Greg
tpaine
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by tpaine »

Looks like the Omaha Riverwalk rumors were correct - Thanks Catherine33! Just visited San Antonio's riverwalk and having something similar in downtown Omaha would be a home run!!!! :clap: :clap: :clap:

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/could-t ... f1f42.html

I want to praise Omaha's leaders for their vision and determination to make downtown a vibrant destination to live, work and visit. A city of the future we can all be proud of. THANK YOU. Between the Omaha Riverwalk, turning Lot B into a Power and Light district, the modern streetcar, redevelopment of ConAgra's campus, reimagining of the riverfront, the 10th Street Market and the Capitol District project we truly have exciting times ahead for Omaha. These big ideas will attract new businesses to downtown, young professionals to our city, and generate additional revenue through tourism. Keep up the great job and please, please bring these fabulous ideas to fruition quickly!!
Last edited by tpaine on Mon Mar 27, 2017 12:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Greg S
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Greg S »

I still don't see it. First is the big problem with Leahy Mall. It's below street level. 2nd, it was not built to accommodate any type of boats.

With those two deficiencies, it can't possibly be a "San Antonio Riverwalk" or even what they have running throguh Bricktown in OKC.


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GetUrban
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by GetUrban »

tpaine wrote:Looks like the Omaha Riverwalk rumors were correct - Thanks Catherine33! Just visited San Antonio's riverwalk and having something similar in downtown Omaha would be a home run!!!! :clap: :clap: :clap:

http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/could-t ... f1f42.html

I want to praise Omaha's leaders for their vision and determination to make downtown a vibrant destination to live, work and visit. A city of the future we can all be proud of. THANK YOU. Between the Omaha Riverwalk, turning Lot B into a Power and Light district, the modern streetcar, redevelopment of ConAgra's campus, reimaging of the riverfront, the 10th Street Market and the Capitol District project we truly have exciting times ahead for Omaha. These big ideas will attract new businesses to downtown, young professionals to our city, and generate additional revenue through tourism. Keep up the great job and please, please bring these fabulous ideas to fruition quickly!!
The devil is in the details. It's really the designers that have the true vision it takes to make successful development actually happen, more so than the movers and shakers. Of course money is helpful too. It will be interesting to see what realistic plan proposals the architects and urban planners can come up with.
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iamjacobm
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by iamjacobm »

Greg S wrote:I still don't see it. First is the big problem with Leahy Mall. It's below street level. 2nd, it was not built to accommodate any type of boats.

With those two deficiencies, it can't possibly be a "San Antonio Riverwalk" or even what they have running throguh Bricktown in OKC.


Greg
I think the idea is less of a retrofit and more of a complete overhaul.

What I envision is two levels of retail. One at street level and one at canal level. If there was enough room I would have the shops that opened up to street level have back patios that would be the roof of the canal level retail. The canal level shops would have a boardwalk(bricks, wood, concrete whatever) that go right up to a straighter and probably thinner waterway.

I hope they would keep the block bounded by Douglas, 13th, Farnam and 14th as green-space as the central core will really be lacking park space if this comes through.
Midwestern
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Midwestern »

Personally I'd rather that city leaders first focus on connecting Heartland of America Park to the Old Market rather than doing this.

There is basically a superblock (Landmark building complex) blocking the Old Market from the GLM and that is a problem that is not going away anytime soon. Might as well complete the easier connection (Old Market to HOA Park) first.

There is no retail activity on the eastern or western borders of GLM, and very little of daily interest all along the northern border of GLM as well. Doesn't seem like it would be worth the investment........yet.
buildomaha
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by buildomaha »

Midwestern wrote:Personally I'd rather that city leaders first focus on connecting Heartland of America Park to the Old Market rather than doing this.

There is basically a superblock (Landmark building complex) blocking the Old Market from the GLM and that is a problem that is not going away anytime soon. Might as well complete the easier connection (Old Market to HOA Park) first.

There is no retail activity on the eastern or western borders of GLM, and very little of daily interest all along the northern border of GLM as well. Doesn't seem like it would be worth the investment........yet.
We can sustain multiple projects at once. Also in the article although it was mentioned that it is unclear as to who would be paying for this, the mayor/city aren't the people behind the push for this project. It's businessleaders in the city who want more for Omaha not only for the greater good, but so they can attract workers and potential customers to come and see how great the city they are based in is.
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iamjacobm
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by iamjacobm »

buildomaha wrote:
Midwestern wrote:Personally I'd rather that city leaders first focus on connecting Heartland of America Park to the Old Market rather than doing this.

There is basically a superblock (Landmark building complex) blocking the Old Market from the GLM and that is a problem that is not going away anytime soon. Might as well complete the easier connection (Old Market to HOA Park) first.

There is no retail activity on the eastern or western borders of GLM, and very little of daily interest all along the northern border of GLM as well. Doesn't seem like it would be worth the investment........yet.
We can sustain multiple projects at once. Also in the article although it was mentioned that it is unclear as to who would be paying for this, the mayor/city aren't the people behind the push for this project. It's businessleaders in the city who want more for Omaha not only for the greater good, but so they can attract workers and potential customers to come and see how great the city they are based in is.
Its also like this isn't about the run through the permit process or anything either. I would imagine 2020 before anything happened.
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Joe Schmo »

Is this a precursor to development on the old library site? Seems like Kiewit players are involved in this as well, then again, when are they not at the forefront of this city's largest civic use projects?
Omaha_corn_burner
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Omaha_corn_burner »

So, not an actual riverwalk. The GLM would just be turned into "Restaurants on the Pond" and the park would be gone.
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Linkin5
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Linkin5 »

Why are we trying to emulate San Antonio and OKC with their gimicky little creeks? I am just confused by this project as well as proposing to possibly tear down the Double Tree downtown, some seriously bad ideas being floated around lately.
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Greg S
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Greg S »

Omaha_corn_burner wrote:So, not an actual riverwalk. The GLM would just be turned into "Restaurants on the Pond" and the park would be gone.

Yeah if they do the double level stores/restaraunts, that would eliminate the green space right? Assuming the streets stay.

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nebugeater
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by nebugeater »

Linkin5 wrote:Why are we trying to emulate San Antonio and OKC with their gimicky little creeks? I am just confused by this project as well as proposing to possibly tear down the Double Tree downtown, some seriously bad ideas being floated around lately.
Not sure that we need to see Omaha emulate them but as for those "gimicky little creeks" they sure seem to be an attraction that draws in people and is the focus of the area.
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buildomaha
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by buildomaha »

nebugeater wrote:
Linkin5 wrote:Why are we trying to emulate San Antonio and OKC with their gimicky little creeks? I am just confused by this project as well as proposing to possibly tear down the Double Tree downtown, some seriously bad ideas being floated around lately.
Not sure that we need to see Omaha emulate them but as for those "gimicky little creeks" they sure seem to be an attraction that draws in people and is the focus of the area.
A couple of years ago when brick town was just recently finished with the big stuff, it was already full of people. I don't exactly see the gimic in this in any way... A project like this would be very successful. Especially with the backing of the big bucks in Omaha.
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tpaine
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by tpaine »

Linkin5 wrote:Why are we trying to emulate San Antonio and OKC with their gimicky little creeks? I am just confused by this project as well as proposing to possibly tear down the Double Tree downtown, some seriously bad ideas being floated around lately.
Omaha will be fortunate to emulate San Antonio's extraordinarily successful River Walk. San Antonio's River Walk is the #1 tourist attraction in the state of Texas, attracting over 11 million visitors annually, supports more than 31,000 jobs, and has an economic impact of around $3.1 billion per year for the city. For more information, please see:

https://www.sara-tx.org/wp-content/uplo ... l-2014.pdf
Omaha_corn_burner
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Omaha_corn_burner »

tpaine wrote:Omaha will be fortunate to emulate San Antonio's extraordinarily successful River Walk. San Antonio's River Walk is the #1 tourist attraction in the state of Texas, attracting over 11 million visitors annually, supports more than 31,000 jobs, and has an economic impact of around $3.1 billion per year for the city. For more information, please see:

https://www.sara-tx.org/wp-content/uplo ... l-2014.pdf
And this is exactly why we shouldn't compare this idea to the River Walk. Completely different scope.
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Omaha Cowboy »

With Ken Stinson leading the charge, this plan has a decent chance to come to fruition..

I believe it could be an exciting and attractive piece of downtown core development :thumb: ...

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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Coyote »

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tpaine
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by tpaine »

Omaha_corn_burner wrote:
tpaine wrote:Omaha will be fortunate to emulate San Antonio's extraordinarily successful River Walk. San Antonio's River Walk is the #1 tourist attraction in the state of Texas, attracting over 11 million visitors annually, supports more than 31,000 jobs, and has an economic impact of around $3.1 billion per year for the city. For more information, please see:

https://www.sara-tx.org/wp-content/uplo ... l-2014.pdf
And this is exactly why we shouldn't compare this idea to the River Walk. Completely different scope.
"Emulate": to rival with some degree of success (e.g., some smaller cities now emulate the major capitals in their cultural offerings).

Under the aforementioned logic Omaha's First National Tower shouldn't have been constructed because it is a "completely different scope" than the Burj Khalifa.
Omaha_corn_burner
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Omaha_corn_burner »

tpaine wrote:Omaha's First National Tower shouldn't have been constructed because it is a "completely different scope" than the Burj Khalifa.
Did people actually mention building a building in Omaha and comparing it to the Burj Khalifa?
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Linkin5
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by Linkin5 »

I definitely appreciate the input about the SA river walk being a huge economic catalyst for SA and how that could translate to Omaha. The only thing is we already have huge draws in the OM, and will soon have the capital district, not to mention Lot B being developed into an entertainment district. Do we really want to pump money into a perfectly good park and turn that into retail space? I may be in the minority but I love walking my dog from the riverfront area into Heartland park and into the mall area, it's a great green space in an otherwise concrete CBD.
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GetUrban
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Re: Omaha River Walk

Post by GetUrban »

It's safe to say some of the 1973 drawings for Marina City and the area that would become GLM are still having an influence today...
Image

http://www.omaha.com/news/hansen-archit ... 7c0d0.html
He said "They are some big, ugly red brick buildings"
...and then they were gone.
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