Gene Leahy Mall Remodel

[Omahacritic]

Cowboy ... just for clarification ... I am not against the demolition and a re-do.

My complaint is I think the plan as presented lacks vision. If I am wrong 5 years down the road I will gladly admit it. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I recently moved back to Omaha and downtown. I have skin in the game down here. If you are right, I still win.


Disagreement is good.

[Omaha Cowboy]

Cowboy ... just for clarification ... I am not against the demolition and a re-do.

My complaint is I think the plan as presented lacks vision. If I am wrong 5 years down the road I will gladly admit it. As I mentioned a few posts ago, I recently moved back to Omaha and downtown. I have skin in the game down here. If you are right, I still win.


Disagreement is good.

Yes. Disagreement IS good..

Your opinion that the plan “lacks vision” is your opinion..and you’re entitled to it. I completely disagree of course..

Skins in the game or not, if I’m right, we ALL win...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[Omahacritic]

As of Friday. Sorry for lighting. Just an iPhone late evening.

[ita]

I was checking out the riverfront redevelopment website and the construction photo updates show the most Western part of GLM slowly rising to street level. The most recent pic is from a couple days ago. They are moving at a good pace on this project.

[Omahacritic]

First block is almost up to bottom of 13th Street bridge. Still hauling in dirt. From 13th to about 11th is mostly cleared, just some concrete structuring is left to be pulled down and trucked out.

[Omahacritic]

Geese were back today.

[ScrattyB]

Thank you for the photos

[Brad]

Level up: Dump trucks bringing 9,300 dirt loads to raise Gene Leahy Mall to the street

https://www.omaha.com/news/metro/downto ... 8d401.html

In all, according to MECA, crews will drop off 93,000 cubic yards of fill dirt, or some 9,300 dump truck loads.

But a little cubic yard calculation also shows it’s enough dirt to cover a football field — endzone to endzone, sideline to sideline — to a depth of about 44 feet.

[bigredmed1]

Yes, it could cover a football field that deep. Keep in mind that GLM is about 5 football fields and their safety track long and is currently emptied of the nearly mile long ditch that was 50-75 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Also keep in mind that the entire GLM is built on fill dirt and has lots of tunnel ruins to content with (people wanted the whores, but they didn't want their minister or the local busy body to see them go the babe houses.). Going to need to fill the existing trench and be sure that there is enough fill to act as surplus to pack down the dirt to keep the new GLM stable.

[Louie]

Yes, it could cover a football field that deep. Keep in mind that GLM is about 5 football fields and their safety track long and is currently emptied of the nearly mile long ditch that was 50-75 feet wide and 20 feet deep. Also keep in mind that the entire GLM is built on fill dirt and has lots of tunnel ruins to content with (people wanted the whores, but they didn't want their minister or the local busy body to see them go the babe houses.). Going to need to fill the existing trench and be sure that there is enough fill to act as surplus to pack down the dirt to keep the new GLM stable.

I’d love to see a map of the tunnels.

[bigredmed1]

Not sure I have ever seen one. They were between banks or men’s clothing stores and the ladies.

[GrandpaaSmucker]

I can remember reading an article in the paper years ago bragging about how many loads of dirt they hauled out to make the GLM. Now I get to read about them bringing all that dirt back. I thought it was a joke when they took the dirt out and it sure is a joke that they are bringing it back. What brilliant city planners they are.....NOT!

[buildomaha]

I can understand why they did what they did. Omaha needed to do something different and separate itself from other cities while rejuvenating the decaying downtown core.
Let’s remember that urban planning essentially didn’t exist based on any logic other than cul-de-sacs and interstates in the post war up until 2000’s era. We realize now what the map did for downtown, but that in practice it is not the best use of space (or the safest at night).

[Omahacritic]

When you consider, they are basically bringing in enough dirt to fill a half the width of a Woodmen Tower. Someone else can check my math.

Are the tunnels in that part of town. I thought they were further up a Farnam . Most banks were on the upslope, or so I thought.

Rebuilding the mall is fine. 45 years ago they did not foresee the homeless problem. (They were called bums back then.).
The Mall was supposed to stimulate commerce. I think the Mercer family was able to thwart any commerce outside of Old Market. Then Mall is a great, beautiful, unusable space.

Too bad MECA has the vision of a blind rat.

[nativeomahan]

I never saw another sunken park like ours in other cities. Besides looking at it or walking in it their wasn’t much to do. It was underused. It’s my understanding they are leaving the slides which was maybe the best thing about the place. This new version GLH should be better. Yes the buildings might look a little shorter.

Apparently you have never spent much time boating or walking the Paseo Del Rio in San Antonio. It is wildly popular. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_River_Walk

[Doctor Fate]

I never saw another sunken park like ours in other cities. Besides looking at it or walking in it their wasn’t much to do. It was underused. It’s my understanding they are leaving the slides which was maybe the best thing about the place. This new version GLH should be better. Yes the buildings might look a little shorter.

Apparently you have never spent much time boating or walking the Paseo Del Rio in San Antonio. It is wildly popular. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_River_Walk

If you had to guess which was the bigger draw, would you say it is the boating, nature aspects, and River Walk itself or the shops, restaurants, and bars?

[Omaha Cowboy]

I never saw another sunken park like ours in other cities. Besides looking at it or walking in it their wasn’t much to do. It was underused. It’s my understanding they are leaving the slides which was maybe the best thing about the place. This new version GLH should be better. Yes the buildings might look a little shorter.

Apparently you have never spent much time boating or walking the Paseo Del Rio in San Antonio. It is wildly popular. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_River_Walk

If you had to guess which was the bigger draw, would you say it is the boating, nature aspects, and River Walk itself or the shops, restaurants, and bars?

Coming from someone whose also visited San Antonio several times, I’d say the River Walk itself, for me, is the biggest draw.. The shops, restaurants and bars are mainly overpriced touristy traps (not unlike the Navy Pier in Chicago) imo..

I’ve never boated there. Might need to look into doing that next time I’m down that way..

I need to make a point to get back downtown in a couple weeks and snap some progress pics of GLM...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[TitosBuritoBarn]

I never saw another sunken park like ours in other cities. Besides looking at it or walking in it their wasn’t much to do. It was underused. It’s my understanding they are leaving the slides which was maybe the best thing about the place. This new version GLH should be better. Yes the buildings might look a little shorter.

Apparently you have never spent much time boating or walking the Paseo Del Rio in San Antonio. It is wildly popular. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_River_Walk

If you had to guess which was the bigger draw, would you say it is the boating, nature aspects, and River Walk itself or the shops, restaurants, and bars?

Coming from someone whose also visited San Antonio several times, I’d say the River Walk itself, for me, is the biggest draw.. The shops, restaurants and bars are mainly overpriced touristy traps (not unlike the Navy Pier in Chicago) imo..

I’ve never boated there. Might need to look into doing that next time I’m down that way..

I need to make a point to get back downtown in a couple weeks and snap some progress pics of GLM...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

I think Cermak's point still stands though as the River Walk in San Antonio is adjacent to a legitimate river with ample space on either bank for various programming like restaurants, hotels, etc. The Gene Leahy Mall is (was) on a small lagoon and there isn't the space to construct much of any programming on either side.

[Omahacritic]

Cowboy, the dirt from about11th St to 13th is closer to street level. Still a few more weeks to go. The Eastern end that held the pedestrian bridge footings is progressing with removal of the dirt. They just truck some of it 4 blocks west.

What I haven’t really noticed is a lot of soil compaction going on. Trucks drive over it, but I wonder about 30 feet of different types of soil. But I’m not an engineer.

[nativeomahan]

I never saw another sunken park like ours in other cities. Besides looking at it or walking in it their wasn’t much to do. It was underused. It’s my understanding they are leaving the slides which was maybe the best thing about the place. This new version GLH should be better. Yes the buildings might look a little shorter.

Apparently you have never spent much time boating or walking the Paseo Del Rio in San Antonio. It is wildly popular. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Antonio_River_Walk

If you had to guess which was the bigger draw, would you say it is the boating, nature aspects, and River Walk itself or the shops, restaurants, and bars?

Coming from someone whose also visited San Antonio several times, I’d say the River Walk itself, for me, is the biggest draw.. The shops, restaurants and bars are mainly overpriced touristy traps (not unlike the Navy Pier in Chicago) imo..

I’ve never boated there. Might need to look into doing that next time I’m down that way..

I need to make a point to get back downtown in a couple weeks and snap some progress pics of GLM...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

I think Cermak's point still stands though as the River Walk in San Antonio is adjacent to a legitimate river with ample space on either bank for various programming like restaurants, hotels, etc. The Gene Leahy Mall is (was) on a small lagoon and there isn't the space to construct much of any programming on either side.

Seriously? Have you ever boated or strolled the river walk? It (the waterway plus sidewalks) is not much more wide than a 3 lane street in most areas. Nowhere is it even half as wide as the Leahy Mall, which was a full block wide. And there are no traditional “banks” on the river as we commonly think of them. Adding to its charm is the fact that because it is pencil thin it is totally invisible from the streets above (as well as practically invisible on satellite images). Driving in downtown you would not even know it existed but for signage.
The hotels that exist along the River have city streets as their front doors. Most were built after the Paseo Del Rio was established. I’ve stayed in at least two. The same is true for all of the subterranean restaurants and bars, as well as some up at street level.
The Central Park/Leahy Mall was an attempt to recreate a stream linking downtown to the Missouri River, as part of the now defunct “back to the river” civic pride campaign of the 1970s and 1980s. It had its genesis in the same decade as the “it became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it” mentality of the era. Which is why dozens of perfectly wonderful and irreplaceable buildings were destroyed (including the old marble Woodmen of the World tower along Farnam Street) in order to make it better. So it started sterile, and unfortunately it never really grew charming, unlike the Paseo Del Rio. Still, in my opinion it was an icon...the icon...of a city that seems to have no other icon able to replace it.

[Omaha Cowboy]

Cowboy, the dirt from about11th St to 13th is closer to street level. Still a few more weeks to go. The Eastern end that held the pedestrian bridge footings is progressing with removal of the dirt. They just truck some of it 4 blocks west.

What I haven’t really noticed is a lot of soil compaction going on. Trucks drive over it, but I wonder about 30 feet of different types of soil. But I’m not an engineer.

Thanks for the pic update critic. I know you live in the downtown core. I appreciate these updates ...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[guy4omaha]

I never saw another sunken park like ours in other cities. Besides looking at it or walking in it their wasn’t much to do. It was underused. It’s my understanding they are leaving the slides which was maybe the best thing about the place. This new version GLH should be better. Yes the buildings might look a little shorter.

Fort Worth has a sunken park in its downtown. Albeit there is another one that is more centrally located and at ground level.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_ ... ml?m=19905

[mecich]

I'm originally from Oklahoma City. We had a sunken garden downtown called the Myriad Gardens. (It's been mentioned in this forum before.) It was part of a sprawling urban renewal project designed by I.M. Pei in the mid-1960s. Pei's plan was never fully realized due to economic downturns. Many old buildings were razed and sat as parking lots until the recent boom. More than 20 years later, only the park and its Crystal Bridge conservatory were completed by 1988.

Intended as a refuge from the city, the Myriad Gardens park was mostly sunken and hidden behind berms at street level, which further closed it off from the city. There were a handful of entry points -- gateways of sorts -- to access the park. The park was a foreboding place at night and became a shelter for the city's homeless. By the early 1990s, much of the grounds were dated and in disrepair.

With substantial public investment, a massive renovation was completed in 2011, transforming the Myriad Botanical Gardens into a destination. Today, most of the park is now at street level with only the lagoon being sunken. It's much better integrated into -- not separated from -- the city. The multiple flat areas serve as gathering places for events like concerts and movies, playgrounds, a skating rink, dining and accessible gardens and educational spaces. In 2015, the park was recognized as the Urban Open Space Winner by the Urban Land Institute.

When I was last in Oklahoma City for the Thanksgiving holiday, the park was bustling with people. The park was a shift in thinking from a space to escape the city versus a place in the city for respite. The success of the Myriad Botanical Gardens gives me hope for Omaha's future Gene Leahy Mall.

[ita]

With substantial public investment, a massive renovation was completed in 2011, transforming the Myriad Botanical Gardens into a destination. Today, most of the park is now at street level with only the lagoon being sunken. It's much better integrated into -- not separated from -- the city. The multiple flat areas serve as gathering places for events like concerts and movies, playgrounds, a skating rink, dining and accessible gardens and educational spaces. In 2015, the park was recognized as the Urban Open Space Winner by the Urban Land Institute.

When I was last in Oklahoma City for the Thanksgiving holiday, the park was bustling with people. The park was a shift in thinking from a space to escape the city versus a place in the city for respite. The success of the Myriad Botanical Gardens gives me hope for Omaha's future Gene Leahy Mall.

Thanks for the insight. This sounds like what people expect the RiverFront to be. Someone said recently that this project, across the three parks (four if you count Council Bluffs), is really for the future Omaha. It is planned and being built with some forward thinking. I remember someone commented previously on the video showing CG sprites using the RF and asked where are all these people going to come from? Hopefully, from future development and densification in the urban core due, in some part, to the RF project.

[ita]

With substantial public investment, a massive renovation was completed in 2011, transforming the Myriad Botanical Gardens into a destination. Today, most of the park is now at street level with only the lagoon being sunken. It's much better integrated into -- not separated from -- the city. The multiple flat areas serve as gathering places for events like concerts and movies, playgrounds, a skating rink, dining and accessible gardens and educational spaces. In 2015, the park was recognized as the Urban Open Space Winner by the Urban Land Institute.

When I was last in Oklahoma City for the Thanksgiving holiday, the park was bustling with people. The park was a shift in thinking from a space to escape the city versus a place in the city for respite. The success of the Myriad Botanical Gardens gives me hope for Omaha's future Gene Leahy Mall.

Thanks for the insight. This sounds like what people expect the RiverFront to be. Someone said recently that this project, across the three parks (four if you count Council Bluffs), is really for the future Omaha. It is planned and being built with some forward thinking. I remember someone commented previously on the video showing CG sprites using the RF and asked where are all these people going to come from? Hopefully, from future development and densification in the urban core due, in some part, to the RF project.

[Omahacritic]

I say it lacks vision, primarily the section west of 10th street.

One example ... all they have for 10th St is a pedestrian bridge. They really should be building a bridge that attracts pedestrians.

[Brad]

Aerial Photo Update 10/23/2019

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[Omaha Cowboy]

Aerial Photo Update 10/23/2019

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Fantastic aerial update Brad ...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[ita]

All the pics turned out awesome, but I really like the second pic. It makes Midtown Crossing look like an extension of Downtown.

[Omahacritic]

Look at Brad photo showing that white monstrosity at 10th Street. Imagine how much better the park would look if you sliced it in half and tore down the northern 50 feet to the skylight. Building would look good and Mall enhanced.

[Brad]

Fantastic aerial update Brad ...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Thanks!

All the pics turned out awesome, but I really like the second pic. It makes Midtown Crossing look like an extension of Downtown.

Thanks!

Look at Brad photo showing that white monstrosity at 10th Street. Imagine how much better the park would look if you sliced it in half and tore down the northern 50 feet to the skylight. Building would look good and Mall enhanced.

The Burlington Building? One of the oldest Buildings in the metro built in 1879, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated an Omaha Landmark.

[GetUrban]

Look at Brad photo showing that white monstrosity at 10th Street. Imagine how much better the park would look if you sliced it in half and tore down the northern 50 feet to the skylight. Building would look good and Mall enhanced.

The Burlington Building? One of the oldest Buildings in the metro built in 1879, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated an Omaha Landmark.

Omahacritic, what are you smoking? Cut the Burlington Building in half? Have you ever been inside the atrium in that building? It's one of the best few remaining late 1800s building in Omaha. Not just my opinion.

[Omahacritic]

Look at Brad photo showing that white monstrosity at 10th Street. Imagine how much better the park would look if you sliced it in half and tore down the northern 50 feet to the skylight. Building would look good and Mall enhanced.

The Burlington Building? One of the oldest Buildings in the metro built in 1879, listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated an Omaha Landmark.

Omahacritic, what are you smoking? Cut the Burlington Building in half? Have you ever been inside the atrium in that building? It's one of the best few remaining late 1800s building in Omaha. Not just my opinion.

Point?

I love old buildings. And if they are of architectural significance I like to keep them. Age does not make you significant. It makes you old.
Is the atrium significant? Like an Embassy Suites?

Typical Omaha people can’t think outside the corn field. I said picture how much better the Mall would look. Not tearing down the facade front facade of the building. One would think I wanted to build a new Holland Center. Geez.

And really, the butt end of that building ... looks just like a butt end of a building.

[Cermak]

Burlington building is one of Omaha’s and the state’s best. A beautiful building !.

[Busguy2010]

Take it easy everyone, with all the heavy work going on, somebody will probably accidentally run a bulldozer into it and this will all be a moot conversation.

[GetUrban]

Here's some pics of the interior of the Burlington building from a quick search.
From http://rcto.us/bp.htm





Worthy of keeping for most people.

[TitosBuritoBarn]

Oh wow! That's really nice. It kinda reminds me of the Bradbury Building in Los Angeles:

[Omaha Cowboy]

Here's some pics of the interior of the Burlington building from a quick search.
From http://rcto.us/bp.htm





Worthy of keeping for most people.

Excellent. Thanks for sharing ...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[Omahacritic]

Thanks for pictures. Nice ironwork.

Doesn’t make the outside any prettier.

Other news ... th3 a City chooses to keep 10th St bridge in the dark. They don’t maintain the lights for pedestrians. Only place more dark at night are alleyways. Brilliant management the project has, eh!

Progress wise ... appears they are putting in drainage pipes, still bringing in more dirt. Crushed concrete laid out at 14th street. Are they really going to plant grass on top? smh

[Coyote]

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