Omaha Central library (SWC 72 & Dodge)

[Linkin5]

Thanks Brad, I would say those current design standards are not good enough now that the main library is going to be across the street. I would also say a gas station is not the best use of land for one of the metro’s busiest intersections, so some further zoning restrictions would be appropriate.

I think it all comes down to what others have said, this was not a great location for your flagship library. I still do not understand why some deal was not worked out to put it on the MoO campus in midtown.

[FishFighter92]

So, how does that stop an "undesirable" development? If building out transit makes the land more expensive, then the undesirables will just pay more in rent.

Couldn’t the city create design standards, zoning restrictions, in certain districts or areas?

No businesses that earn a majority of their revenue from gasoline, tobacco, vape supplies within 1 mile of 72nd and Dodge? Is that what we want?

A new bus route is not stopping Mega Saver.

I didn’t say that is what I want is that what you want? I think creating some new design/zoning standards within a block or two from your new city library wouldn’t be a bad idea though.

F0R_L1F3 is the user to ask. F0R_L1F3 seems to want to restrict what type of businesses can be built at 72nd and Dodge.

[Athomsfere]

I think it all comes down to what others have said, this was not a great location for your flagship library. I still do not understand why some deal was not worked out to put it on the MoO campus in midtown.

Officially they hired a company to do a study and evaluate the library system.

From memory they found (and someone might correct me):

• Clark building was old and needed to be reworked or have major renovations to be a modern library
  A few libraries were redundant for market served
  A few areas lacked libraries
  Recommended moving the central library to near 72nd and Dodge
  Recommended a warehouse for some shared resources

Which is fair.

But I think someone should have asked what sort of city do we want to be, and model the system after.

We can sprawl and suck like OKC, KC, and build our new library in a crappy location like Memphis.

Or we can try and be a good city and emulate more of the urban fabric of a Minneapolis / Portland / Seattle.

We went the Memphis route. And worse: We lied about it and called that area a "city center" and pretended it had culture while we simultaneously made the intersection even more car dependent.

[OracleOfOmaha]

I think it all comes down to what others have said, this was not a great location for your flagship library. I still do not understand why some deal was not worked out to put it on the MoO campus in midtown.

Officially they hired a company to do a study and evaluate the library system.

From memory they found (and someone might correct me):

• Clark building was old and needed to be reworked or have major renovations to be a modern library
  A few libraries were redundant for market served
  A few areas lacked libraries
  Recommended moving the central library to near 72nd and Dodge
  Recommended a warehouse for some shared resources

Which is fair.

But I think someone should have asked what sort of city do we want to be, and model the system after.

We can sprawl and suck like OKC, KC, and build our new library in a crappy location like Memphis.

Or we can try and be a good city and emulate more of the urban fabric of a Minneapolis / Portland / Seattle.

We went the Memphis route. And worse: We lied about it and called that area a "city center" and pretended it had culture while we simultaneously made the intersection even more car dependent.

100+ year old historic building in Portland or Top 15 metro area cities aren't the best comparisons for an Omaha library. Also, Omaha's new library is centrally located, similar to all 3 of the libraries you listed! It's unfortunate that our city center is not centrally located, but that is life, and access by bus or car to this new library serves the most people, most conveniently.

[Athomsfere]

I think it all comes down to what others have said, this was not a great location for your flagship library. I still do not understand why some deal was not worked out to put it on the MoO campus in midtown.

Officially they hired a company to do a study and evaluate the library system.

From memory they found (and someone might correct me):

• Clark building was old and needed to be reworked or have major renovations to be a modern library
  A few libraries were redundant for market served
  A few areas lacked libraries
  Recommended moving the central library to near 72nd and Dodge
  Recommended a warehouse for some shared resources

Which is fair.

But I think someone should have asked what sort of city do we want to be, and model the system after.

We can sprawl and suck like OKC, KC, and build our new library in a crappy location like Memphis.

Or we can try and be a good city and emulate more of the urban fabric of a Minneapolis / Portland / Seattle.

We went the Memphis route. And worse: We lied about it and called that area a "city center" and pretended it had culture while we simultaneously made the intersection even more car dependent.

100+ year old historic building in Portland or Top 15 metro area cities aren't the best comparisons for an Omaha library. Also, Omaha's new library is centrally located, similar to all 3 of the libraries you listed! It's unfortunate that our city center is not centrally located, but that is life, and access by bus or car to this new library serves the most people, most conveniently.

Less walkable and less accessible to those in North or South O. Significantly so. These are the differences for North O, South O and a random wasteland out west:



The parts of town where we should be encouraging growth the most saw at least a 50% increase in time to get there by any mode of transit. And the farthest flung parts of Omaha only see a slight improvement.

And the area just sucks for development of what a city should be doing. It sucks to drive through 72nd and Dodge, and it sucks more to walk or bike through there.

I wouldn't mind as much if the Crossroads development was less suburban sprawl nonsense and Dodge was going through a major lane diet.

[Busguy2010]

Okay, I haven't fully read the above argument. But let's me slide my opinion in anyway.

Moving the library doesn't help nor hurt those that were closest to it. Let's be honest, most people living in north or south O have little to no concern about where their nearest literature is. The people you're advocaring for don't have the time to even think about having a nice outing at the library.

If they were to have such thoughts, ORBT made it okay to move it to Crossroads. It's there, it's accessible. It's a total wash if you live near Saddle Creek, the bus ride between Crossroads and Downtown is the same.

This isn't some urban metropolis, and likely won't be in any of our lifetimes. Frustrating as it can be, this city is car driven. The suburban mindset dug it's nails in and stuck when Omaha was barely out to 72nd, and frankly, it flipped the table a LONG time ago.

You have to know where your chickens are. Maybe in another 50 years they'll be back Downtown, but now they're out here. W Dale Clark lasted about that long. Maybe we'll be having this conversation again.

But I personally like it where it is now, and I think it'll be a benefit for the whole of the city to have it out here.

[Garrett]

Moving the library doesn't help nor hurt those that were closest to it. Let's be honest, most people living in north or south O have little to no concern about where their nearest literature is. The people you're advocaring for don't have the time to even think about having a nice outing at the library.

Jesus Christ man, what the heck is that supposed to mean?

[Busguy2010]

It means they're focused on doing what they can to scrape by, and a lot have families to feed.
They're the poor areas of town, it's just a fact. Metro South and Fort both have their own libraries, as do the other schools, so that pretty much leaves the adult population, and most likely they aren't going to have much time. I mean not many people really do anyway, but at least by moving it out here, we centralized it. I think by your tone, you thought I was suggesting people down there are illiterate, which is just the assumption you'd seem to make.

[Busguy2010]

And I believe it was mentioned in earlier posts, the reason this was an undesirable location because it benefits capturing "the west O type" i.e. white people. Living north of Dodge and living and playing mostly across that plane, I can tell you that NW Omaha is far from just west O type, so does this new location not benefit them too. I know if I live at 108th & Fort, or 90th & Maple, or what have you, I have a vehicle, and if I want to go to the main library, it's a much better deal for me than having to go all the way downtown. Probably is by transit too.

[Garrett]

It means they're focused on doing what they can to scrape by, and a lot have families to feed.
They're the poor areas of town, it's just a fact. Metro South and Fort both have their own libraries, as do the other schools, so that pretty much leaves the adult population, and most likely they aren't going to have much time. I mean not many people really do anyway, but at least by moving it out here, we centralized it. I think by your tone, you thought I was suggesting people down there are illiterate, which is just the assumption you'd seem to make.

Now who is making assumptions? I wasn't thinking you were saying people in North or South O were illiterate, but saying they don't use libraries is a wild assumption. Working class people use libraries. They provide a wide variety of valuable, free services that working class people often don't have easy access to. The Central Library, when it opens, will be the most well resourced public library in the state. I think saying that the people of North and South Omaha will have no interest in using it is patently absurd.

[ClayStreetScouser]

It means they're focused on doing what they can to scrape by, and a lot have families to feed.
They're the poor areas of town, it's just a fact. Metro South and Fort both have their own libraries, as do the other schools, so that pretty much leaves the adult population, and most likely they aren't going to have much time. I mean not many people really do anyway, but at least by moving it out here, we centralized it. I think by your tone, you thought I was suggesting people down there are illiterate, which is just the assumption you'd seem to make.

Fort Omaha campus no longer has a physical library location. Formerly located inside Building 8, the physical bookstore was removed around 2020ish if I recall correctly, leaving only the Washington Branch on 28th and Ames. We still have library assistants for help researching online databases in Building 23 but no more physical books to check in and out. I believe there is a small version of rentals located in Building 10 but the full on library is no more. South Omaha has the nicest library and that's not going anywhere. Elkhorn Valley Campus also has a physical library located within.

[Busguy2010]

The Central Library, when it opens, will be the most well resourced public library in the state. I think saying that the people of North and South Omaha will have no interest in using it is patently absurd.

No, I'm not saying they won't use it. They most definitely will. I'm saying its location isn't the travesty that some are making it out to be. As it was referenced in an earlier post by someone, it was basically said that it's a disservice to the people of North and South Omaha to move it to Crossroads because it'll be that much more inaccessible. I'm saying it's basically a wash with ORBT. People at 108th and Fort have as much acceseibility disadvantage as people at 30th & Ames. If not more. And having the Central location bridges that gap. I think what some assumed is that all of West Omaha is full of silver spoons, when actually, much of Northwest Omaha is full of the same demographic as North Omaha proper. I mean its pretty simple, go to the Irvington walmart and hang out at Grandridge apartments across the street. This will be a benefit to them too.

[OracleOfOmaha]

I think it all comes down to what others have said, this was not a great location for your flagship library. I still do not understand why some deal was not worked out to put it on the MoO campus in midtown.

Officially they hired a company to do a study and evaluate the library system.

From memory they found (and someone might correct me):

• Clark building was old and needed to be reworked or have major renovations to be a modern library
  A few libraries were redundant for market served
  A few areas lacked libraries
  Recommended moving the central library to near 72nd and Dodge
  Recommended a warehouse for some shared resources

Which is fair.

But I think someone should have asked what sort of city do we want to be, and model the system after.

We can sprawl and suck like OKC, KC, and build our new library in a crappy location like Memphis.

Or we can try and be a good city and emulate more of the urban fabric of a Minneapolis / Portland / Seattle.

We went the Memphis route. And worse: We lied about it and called that area a "city center" and pretended it had culture while we simultaneously made the intersection even more car dependent.

100+ year old historic building in Portland or Top 15 metro area cities aren't the best comparisons for an Omaha library. Also, Omaha's new library is centrally located, similar to all 3 of the libraries you listed! It's unfortunate that our city center is not centrally located, but that is life, and access by bus or car to this new library serves the most people, most conveniently.

Less walkable and less accessible to those in North or South O. Significantly so. These are the differences for North O, South O and a random wasteland out west:



The parts of town where we should be encouraging growth the most saw at least a 50% increase in time to get there by any mode of transit. And the farthest flung parts of Omaha only see a slight improvement.

And the area just sucks for development of what a city should be doing. It sucks to drive through 72nd and Dodge, and it sucks more to walk or bike through there.

I wouldn't mind as much if the Crossroads development was less suburban sprawl nonsense and Dodge was going through a major lane diet.

It is more centrally located to the majority of the metro population. Closer via car/uber to those that do not have bus access, and closer for those that do have bus access in Northwest/Southwest/South Omaha. (south/north omaha doesn't end at 24th/30th). Also, North Omaha has the Washington, Metro, Florence, Benson branches. There is the Cather and South Omaha branches as well. There is also a brand new downtown branch. So while there may be a longer bus commute to the main library, there is still public transportation available to that location. As I'm sure you are aware of, studies were conducted and this location was determined to foster the best viability of use for the MOST people, regardless of whatever you are trying to get at.

If you are unhappy with the cool, new building being at 72nd and Dodge and not enhancing our downtown landscape, then we can have that discussion and I would agree! But trying to frame this as a service based issue is in poor form.

[Renovator2559]

I think the main thing that detracts from the Central library design, is the hideous massive traffic light of 72nd and Dodge. That traffic light "blocks" the design of the library from many angles. The traffic light almost seems like an extension of the library (which doesn't give it a good look).
It would probably look better if new thin traffic lights were installed at various points, rather than condensing all traffic lights into that metal eyesore.

[Brad]

I think the main thing that detracts from the Central library design, is the hideous massive traffic light of 72nd and Dodge. That traffic light "blocks" the design of the library from many angles. The traffic light almost seems like an extension of the library (which doesn't give it a good look).
It would probably look better if new thin traffic lights were installed at various points, rather than condensing all traffic lights into that metal eyesore.

Its funny because they don't include that light in any of the renderings.

[Renovator2559]

In a way they should add the traffic light to the renderings because of its close proximity. I really like the design of the Library and metaphorically want to touch it and feel it from far away, I just need to make a mental note to pretend that the traffic light isn't there.

[Athomsfere]

I think it all comes down to what others have said, this was not a great location for your flagship library. I still do not understand why some deal was not worked out to put it on the MoO campus in midtown.

Officially they hired a company to do a study and evaluate the library system.

From memory they found (and someone might correct me):

• Clark building was old and needed to be reworked or have major renovations to be a modern library
  A few libraries were redundant for market served
  A few areas lacked libraries
  Recommended moving the central library to near 72nd and Dodge
  Recommended a warehouse for some shared resources

Which is fair.

But I think someone should have asked what sort of city do we want to be, and model the system after.

We can sprawl and suck like OKC, KC, and build our new library in a crappy location like Memphis.

Or we can try and be a good city and emulate more of the urban fabric of a Minneapolis / Portland / Seattle.

We went the Memphis route. And worse: We lied about it and called that area a "city center" and pretended it had culture while we simultaneously made the intersection even more car dependent.

100+ year old historic building in Portland or Top 15 metro area cities aren't the best comparisons for an Omaha library. Also, Omaha's new library is centrally located, similar to all 3 of the libraries you listed! It's unfortunate that our city center is not centrally located, but that is life, and access by bus or car to this new library serves the most people, most conveniently.

Less walkable and less accessible to those in North or South O. Significantly so. These are the differences for North O, South O and a random wasteland out west:



The parts of town where we should be encouraging growth the most saw at least a 50% increase in time to get there by any mode of transit. And the farthest flung parts of Omaha only see a slight improvement.

And the area just sucks for development of what a city should be doing. It sucks to drive through 72nd and Dodge, and it sucks more to walk or bike through there.

I wouldn't mind as much if the Crossroads development was less suburban sprawl nonsense and Dodge was going through a major lane diet.

It is more centrally located to the majority of the metro population. Closer via car/uber to those that do not have bus access, and closer for those that do have bus access in Northwest/Southwest/South Omaha. (south/north omaha doesn't end at 24th/30th). Also, North Omaha has the Washington, Metro, Florence, Benson branches. There is the Cather and South Omaha branches as well. There is also a brand new downtown branch. So while there may be a longer bus commute to the main library, there is still public transportation available to that location. As I'm sure you are aware of, studies were conducted and this location was determined to foster the best viability of use for the MOST people, regardless of whatever you are trying to get at.

If you are unhappy with the cool, new building being at 72nd and Dodge and not enhancing our downtown landscape, then we can have that discussion and I would agree! But trying to frame this as a service based issue is in poor form.

Geographically center and accessibility are not the same thing.

We have given a slight benefit to the worst parts of the city at the much greater cost to the parts of the city we want to add amenities to.

And while yes the study recommended this: We should have said this is not the sort of growth we want to continue with. Because as it is, by the time Most Omahans even realize the library is there and complete the geographic center will have shifted another mile west while our city continues to be a car infested mess west of 72nd catering to the worst modes of transit and access.

[Stan]

You guys need to stop or else they might read this and start dismantling the new library and build it where you want it.

[Brad]

I toured the new library today for Grow Omaha. You can see all the photos at the link. The place was amazing!

PHOTOS -----> https://bit.ly/3E72lWv

881A2259.jpg

[NEDodger]

I toured the new library today for Grow Omaha. You can see all the photos at the link. The place was amazing!

PHOTOS -----> https://bit.ly/3E72lWv

881A2259.jpg

Very cool. Did they give an estimate on where they were compared to the expected timeline? It seems like they have a pretty amazing amount done in a relatively short period of time.

[Brad]

I toured the new library today for Grow Omaha. You can see all the photos at the link. The place was amazing!

PHOTOS -----> https://bit.ly/3E72lWv

881A2259.jpg

Very cool. Did they give an estimate on where they were compared to the expected timeline? It seems like they have a pretty amazing amount done in a relatively short period of time.

One reporter asked when they were expecting to open and all they said was 2026. In the photos of the community room and do space areas, you can see the grided floor, which is actually 18" above the concrete floor. All the utilities are in that 18" and only about half that elevated floor is in on the two floors we saw in installed. Speaking of, there is a basement, First Floor (Street Level) a mezzanine level, the second floor and at least part of the building has a third floor. So while they are calling it a 2 story building, there are actually 5 levels in there. The parking garage is 2 levels. Overall it looks like there is a lot done, but they have quite a bit left to do.

[skinzfan23]

Great photos and so glad to see the progress that they have made.

[skinzfan23]

And by the way, Brad, your pictures are amazing. Can you please go take pictures for the OWH? I don't even know what some of their pictures are...its like they are trying to be artistic or something but they don't capture the space at all like you did!

[stadsborgare]

One reporter asked when they were expecting to open and all they said was 2026. In the photos of the community room and do space areas, you can see the grided floor, which is actually 18" above the concrete floor. All the utilities are in that 18" and only about half that elevated floor is in on the two floors we saw in installed. Speaking of, there is a basement, First Floor (Street Level) a mezzanine level, the second floor and at least part of the building has a third floor. So while they are calling it a 2 story building, there are actually 5 levels in there. The parking garage is 2 levels. Overall it looks like there is a lot done, but they have quite a bit left to do.

It's a good thing they can do all this work indoors now, no matter how bad the weather gets.

[Omaha Cowboy]

Excellent photos Brad …

Ciao..LiO…Peace

[Toto]

I toured the new library today for Grow Omaha. You can see all the photos at the link. The place was amazing!

PHOTOS -----> https://bit.ly/3E72lWv

881A2259.jpg

I like how you perfectly framed up the Mega Saver world headquarters in the photo titled "Window Close Up - Interior".

[BRoss]

According to Grow Omaha, the tower crane for this is starting to come down.

[omahahawk]

Brad, thanks for the pics. They really do show already what an incredible asset this facility will be. Obviously there has been a lot of back and forth about the merits of this location. All that aside I can only speak for myself when I say it will surpass all our expectations. That is because I believe a lot, if not the majority, of people will tend to treat it as I most likely will. That is to say as new Borders, a good place to get overly caffeinated between the hours of the 3 and 5 on a Saturday afternoon and get a bit of sanctity. More often than not I might just bring my own books and then discover that I can start an award winning Podcast or even trace my family history back to before there was a Nebraska, maybe even before there was a United States.

[omahahawk]

I see per OWH Zen Coffee has been chosen to operate the cafe space at the central library. Been meaning to try them for a long time and love the fact that they are a local company. I'm sure it will be a fantastic part of the library.

[stadsborgare]

I think they are pouring concrete for the sidewalks now, and they have 5 guys working on it, or at least it's what they want to let us know.

[Brad]

I think they are pouring concrete for the sidewalks now, and they have 5 guys working on it, or at least it's what they want to let us know.

They are working on all kinds of stairs, sidewalks, retaining walls, etc, along that north side. Been at it a couple weeks now.

[Ben]

do we have an estimated opening date at this point? Clearly lots of interior work still to be done, but my kiddos were asking as we drove by the other day.

[Brad]

do we have an estimated opening date at this point? Clearly lots of interior work still to be done, but my kiddos were asking as we drove by the other day.

It’s not until next year. They told us when we did the hard hat tour last winter that after construction wraps up, the library will take some time to get setup so there was quite a gap between construction completion and opening day.

[Brad]

Few random photos of the new library.

1.

20250926881A4617.jpg

2.

20250926881A4619.jpg

3.

20250926881A4625.jpg

4.

20250926881A4632.jpg

[thenewguy]

i love that building

[GetUrban]

Great photos! It's a one-of-kind design for Omaha for sure. On a practical note, I wonder how they'll keep it clean and free of leaks with all of those ledges for birds to roost on, and dust, snow and ice to accumulate. We'll see.

[Cermak]

Hopefully will have plenty of free parking. Looking forward to it being finished.

[locoluke]

Hopefully will have plenty of free parking. Looking forward to it being finished.

Looks like it has a two(?)-story parking garage on the west side of the building. Not sure how many spaces.

[Brad]

Hopefully will have plenty of free parking. Looking forward to it being finished.

Looks like it has a two(?)-story parking garage on the west side of the building. Not sure how many spaces.

More parking stalls than you would think. Its a decent size walking through it,

[remline]

Here is an interesting new video about Central Library, focusing on genealogy and local history. Of particular interest to me is the discussion of the Automatic Storage and Retrieval System, which begins at 4:39.