Gene Leahy Mall Remodel

[the1wags]

I got out the actual camera after the rain mid week while visiting for work. They did an amazing job, I checked it out 3 times during the week and I was finding "new" things each time. An absolute gem for Omaha, one of the best urban parks I've seen.



https://www.landscapeslimited.com/shop/o

[Omaha Cowboy]

Absolutely fabulous pic Josh ..

And I agree. They literally left no stone unturned with this GLM reboot. One of the best urban parks in the US…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[nebport5]

Great shot Wags! Can't wait to see you guys getting creative to fit The Mutual Tower from this vantage point.

[Coyote]

Great GLM shot. Are you back in town for a while?

[the1wags]

Great GLM shot. Are you back in town for a while?

No, I'm already back in Denver. I was just in Omaha this week for training.

[Coyote]

Great GLM shot. Are you back in town for a while?

No, I'm already back in Denver. I was just in Omaha this week for training.

Well, welcome back to Omaha, just in time for MAHA 2022!

[nativeomahan]

We finally had nice enough weather last Thursday evening to spend close to an hour walking the 5 blocks that has been completed so far. The mall was quite busy, probably due to a combination of the great weather and the newness factor of the mall.
Clearly the redesign was aimed at being user friendly, and I would say it works. There are a good many sculptures adorning the mall, each being unique. The largest one was roped off for some reason on the evening of our visit. There is a multitude of seating, including tables that are suitable for eating your lunch or dinner. That was totally missing from the prior incarnation. The swing sets and slides were in heavy use, as was the modern day “monkey bars” on the south side. The interactive water features were also a magnet for both kids and adults. I liked the scattered Adirondack chairs, which were filled with older folks just relaxing on a warm summer evening.
There were still a few spots closed off or hidden from public access, most notably the LED screen under the 10th Street bridge, which was wrapped in wooden pallets, resembling a large package being returned to the sender. I hope that issue can be resolved and the feature returned to view ASAP, as it is one of the highlights of the mall.
I’m not sure how food trucks come into play, as I saw none. Just some dessert carts, which seemed popular. Of course food trucks attract people who litter, and leave food on the ground, which then attract rodents. So I don’t know how that will all work out. We ended up crossing Farnam to eat at the Indian restaurant, which was good as always. All and all it was an impressive visit and an enjoyable evening. It’s nice to see so many Omahans out enjoying their city.

[Cermak]

I was at the mall this evening around 7, a good crowd for a Monday evening especially considering the warm sticky temps. I just quickly walked around parts of it and didn't stay more than 15 minutes. Good to see the swings back. This really is a great place, I honestly can't think of another DT park that I've been to that rivals this place , just fantastic for Omaha.

[TransitOriented]

I’m not sure how food trucks come into play, as I saw none. Just some dessert carts, which seemed popular. Of course food trucks attract people who litter, and leave food on the ground, which then attract rodents. So I don’t know how that will all work out.

Yeah, I am also curious about this. The carts that are there must be pulling in a nice little profit.

[Omaha Cowboy]

From today’s W-H-

“The Gene Leahy Mall will host a movie night in the park on Fridays in August, marking the latest free and family-friendly programming at the newly renovated park.

The four movies that will be shown this month are:

"Sing 2" (PG) — Aug. 5
"Soul" (PG) — Aug. 12
"Ghostbusters: Afterlife" (PG-13) — Aug. 19
"Encanto" (PG) — Aug. 26“..

The complete W-H story link:

https://omaha.com/news/local/gene-leahy ... the-latest

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[Garrett]

Got the chance to walk through yesterday afternoon and it was still busy and active even for a hot Wednesday afternoon. Definitely a very successful park that I'm excited to watch mature. I could easily see a big Christmas tree go with the holiday lights there.

[Omaha Cowboy]

Got the chance to walk through yesterday afternoon and it was still busy and active even for a hot Wednesday afternoon. Definitely a very successful park that I'm excited to watch mature. I could easily see a big Christmas tree go with the holiday lights there.

Glad you shared your impressions of the park!..

And I could completely see a big ‘ol Christmas tree placed there to enhance the holiday lights …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[ita]

Got the chance to walk through yesterday afternoon and it was still busy and active even for a hot Wednesday afternoon. Definitely a very successful park that I'm excited to watch mature. I could easily see a big Christmas tree go with the holiday lights there.

Glad you shared your impressions of the park!..

And I could completely see a big ‘ol Christmas tree placed there to enhance the holiday lights …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

Ah, Christmas, this park has so much potential. Since HOA will have the ice rink next winter, it would be cool if they did a Christmas village, or have big Christmas displays or trees or something like that.

[Athomsfere]

Got the chance to walk through yesterday afternoon and it was still busy and active even for a hot Wednesday afternoon. Definitely a very successful park that I'm excited to watch mature. I could easily see a big Christmas tree go with the holiday lights there.

Glad you shared your impressions of the park!..

And I could completely see a big ‘ol Christmas tree placed there to enhance the holiday lights …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

Ah, Christmas, this park has so much potential. Since HOA will have the ice rink next winter, it would be cool if they did a Christmas village, or have big Christmas displays or trees or something like that.

Holiday Market! Holiday Market! I keep saying it... But Omaha should try to become The US city for a Holiday Market.

[Louie]

Got the chance to walk through yesterday afternoon and it was still busy and active even for a hot Wednesday afternoon. Definitely a very successful park that I'm excited to watch mature. I could easily see a big Christmas tree go with the holiday lights there.

Glad you shared your impressions of the park!..

And I could completely see a big ‘ol Christmas tree placed there to enhance the holiday lights …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

Ah, Christmas, this park has so much potential. Since HOA will have the ice rink next winter, it would be cool if they did a Christmas village, or have big Christmas displays or trees or something like that.

Holiday Market! Holiday Market! I keep saying it... But Omaha should try to become The US city for a Holiday Market.

That is a great idea.

[GrowUpFrances]

I thought the statue park in Gene Leahy was going to have a stream running through it? Does anyone know why this isn't up and running?

[Linkin5]

I thought the statue park in Gene Leahy was going to have a stream running through it? Does anyone know why this isn't up and running?

Was just walking though there the other day and thinking the same thing. I wonder if it got scrapped, there are paving stones to walk on where a stream would be.

[Brad]

I thought the statue park in Gene Leahy was going to have a stream running through it? Does anyone know why this isn't up and running?

Was just walking though there the other day and thinking the same thing. I wonder if it got scrapped, there are paving stones to walk on where a stream would be.

It's a dry stream bed that serves as a storm water management basin. There will be water in there after heavy rains.

[ricko]

Got the chance to walk through yesterday afternoon and it was still busy and active even for a hot Wednesday afternoon. Definitely a very successful park that I'm excited to watch mature. I could easily see a big Christmas tree go with the holiday lights there.

Glad you shared your impressions of the park!..

And I could completely see a big ‘ol Christmas tree placed there to enhance the holiday lights …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

Ah, Christmas, this park has so much potential. Since HOA will have the ice rink next winter, it would be cool if they did a Christmas village, or have big Christmas displays or trees or something like that.

Holiday Market! Holiday Market! I keep saying it... But Omaha should try to become The US city for a Holiday Market.

^^^^
This

You win best idea of the year award

Mods, buy this guy a drink on the house.

[Linkin5]

I thought the statue park in Gene Leahy was going to have a stream running through it? Does anyone know why this isn't up and running?

Was just walking though there the other day and thinking the same thing. I wonder if it got scrapped, there are paving stones to walk on where a stream would be.

It's a dry stream bed that serves as a storm water management basin. There will be water in there after heavy rains.

Ah ok didn’t realize that.

[Omaha Cowboy]

From today’s W-H-

“The Gene Leahy Mall will host a movie night in the park on Fridays in August, marking the latest free and family-friendly programming at the newly renovated park.

The four movies that will be shown this month are:

"Sing 2" (PG) — Aug. 5
"Soul" (PG) — Aug. 12
"Ghostbusters: Afterlife" (PG-13) — Aug. 19
"Encanto" (PG) — Aug. 26“..

The complete W-H story link:

https://omaha.com/news/local/gene-leahy ... the-latest

Ciao..LiO…Peace

Trenton talked about it briefly on Grow Omaha this morning..Has anyone checked out movie night at the GLM yet? If so, how did it go and how was the attendance??..

I’m looking to possibly hit up one of these last 2 Friday shows this month…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[ita]

Sorry for the boring updates, but we went to GLM yesterday, a Wednesday night. It must have been the weather, but there were quite a few people there. There was a salsa/bachata fitness class going at the bandshell, lots of kids playing, young and old walking around, there were people splashing in the reflecting pool. I remember when the rendered videos were released, some were critical because they showed lots of people walking around doing stuff. If anything, the GLM has fulfilled the promised of bringing people to downtown, and it's wonderful.

[omahahawk]

Yes, it is wonderful. Been there about 4 or 5 times myself now and the one thing that really strikes me is how MECA runs this place like a well-oiled machine. I have seen practically zero litter and you never see the loose furniture strewn about. All the chairs are stacked and arranged neatly and the equipment for the ping pong tables is always there. It's almost like a retail store being faced throughout the day. Hope it continues on an ongoing basis.

[skinzfan23]

Not my picture but I saw this picture on Facebook and thought it looked amazing:

[Omaha Cowboy]

Not my picture but I saw this picture on Facebook and thought it looked amazing:

That is postcard worthy. Fantastic pic …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[JDJase]

I don't know if this is old news or not but I only noticed today the LED boards under 10th street are uncovered and operational again, were playing fall-themed videos today.

[halgy]

I don't know if this is old news or not but I only noticed today the LED boards under 10th street are uncovered and operational again, were playing fall-themed videos today.

I was just wondering this, but hadn't been through that part of the park lately to check. Good to hear; they were fun during the opening weekend.

Do they have like a plexiglass covering now, or are they still bare modules? I assumed they were boarded up to protect them from damage.

[skinzfan23]

I don't know if this is old news or not but I only noticed today the LED boards under 10th street are uncovered and operational again, were playing fall-themed videos today.

That is good to hear, they weren't on last time I was there.

[Brad]

I don't know if this is old news or not but I only noticed today the LED boards under 10th street are uncovered and operational again, were playing fall-themed videos today.

That is good to hear, they weren't on last time I was there.

It re-opened Saturday 10/29

[Greg S]

I don't know if this is old news or not but I only noticed today the LED boards under 10th street are uncovered and operational again, were playing fall-themed videos today.

That is good to hear, they weren't on last time I was there.

What was the change they made to protect them?

Greg

[jjjjhskr]

Covered them with plexiglass (surprising they didn’t do that initially. They’ve been working again for the last couple of weeks.

[swgiust]

I know it's closed now for the winter, but what happened to the water feature by the slides? It shut down months ago? Although children playing on wet, slippery concrete may not have been the greatest idea...

[ita]

I know it's closed now for the winter, but what happened to the water feature by the slides? It shut down months ago? Although children playing on wet, slippery concrete may not have been the greatest idea...

It seemed to me that they turned it off around the time the city pools closed, so around Labor day. I don't think it's unusually early.

[Omaha Cowboy]

I don't know if this is old news or not but I only noticed today the LED boards under 10th street are uncovered and operational again, were playing fall-themed videos today.

That is good to hear, they weren't on last time I was there.

It re-opened Saturday 10/29

Looks fantastic …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[nativeomahan]

I don't know if this is old news or not but I only noticed today the LED boards under 10th street are uncovered and operational again, were playing fall-themed videos today.

Finally! Of course now it’s too cold for many people to stroll the Mall.

[Bob from Omaha]

I'm sure the new and improved Gene Leahy Mall is going to be great but when the Central Park Mall first opened in the 80s it was such a game changer. Combined with Heartland of America Park, the lake and fountains, it immediately changed the entire character of downtown. Prior to that with the exception of the Old Market downtown was almost completely empty after 5. The rest of downtown was mostly hookers, drug addicts & dealers, a few teens & some amazingly scary people.
So when the mall and park opened I went with my family at about 8 or 9PM. It was amazing. People were everywhere. Old people, families with kids, and yeah, the hookers, drug addicts and dealers, panhandlers, everybody. But the thing I still remember is the difference in the vibe. The mall and park did exactly what they were hoped to do. Bring people out at night. The hoped for construction and development sort of happened but not the residential component.
Anyway, it was amazing.

[Omaha Cowboy]

I'm sure the new and improved Gene Leahy Mall is going to be great but when the Central Park Mall first opened in the 80s it was such a game changer. Combined with Heartland of America Park, the lake and fountains, it immediately changed the entire character of downtown. Prior to that with the exception of the Old Market downtown was almost completely empty after 5. The rest of downtown was mostly hookers, drug addicts & dealers, a few teens & some amazingly scary people.
So when the mall and park opened I went with my family at about 8 or 9PM. It was amazing. People were everywhere. Old people, families with kids, and yeah, the hookers, drug addicts and dealers, panhandlers, everybody. But the thing I still remember is the difference in the vibe. The mall and park did exactly what they were hoped to do. Bring people out at night. The hoped for construction and development sort of happened but not the residential component.
Anyway, it was amazing.

It certainly was a game changer for our downtown core. I too remember all that you mentioned, along with making it more attractive in luring some residents back into the downtown core to live..which certainly was more of a challenge in the 1980’s after white flight into the suburbs in the 60’s and 70’s..The newly redeveloped GLM is certainly carrying on the tradition of “game changer”. 2 weeks ago, when I was taking some vacation time off, I went down to the new mall with my laptop and ear buds and enjoyed a couple of hours in the afternoon taking advantage of the free Wi-Fi and comfortable seating. This was on a Wednesday between 3-5pm and I saw people all over the park enjoying the amenities..Just as I did in the Summer when it was newly reopened..

Once phase 2 and 3 open for business by beginning of summer next year, we should really start feeling the full effects. The difference today, is more folks, of all ages, are willing to seriously consider a move into our downtown core to live- as long as the potential of more attractions and amenities continue to pop up.. Combine this with the Streetcar and new Mutual skyscraper HQ’s, it’s extremely exciting to see the direction we’re headed. As has been stated several times on this forum, in 5 years, there will be so many more developments popping up from the CBD to Saddle Creek Rd, it will be almost unrecognizable…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[stadsborgare]

A couple years ago I visited Nashville and was blown away by all the new development going on down there. Omaha is sort of a smaller version of that, but in coming years is likely to more and more resemble Nashville insofar as seeing construction cranes everywhere.

[Omaha Cowboy]

A couple years ago I visited Nashville and was blown away by all the new development going on down there. Omaha is sort of a smaller version of that, but in coming years is likely to more and more resemble Nashville insofar as seeing construction cranes everywhere.

Agreed…

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[Coyote]

Holiday Lights Festival to illuminate newly renovated Gene Leahy Mall

Holiday Lights Festival to illuminate newly renovated Gene Leahy Mall