Lincolnite

Most people I have talked with have been taking the Wait and See approach. They want to see the proposal before making any decisions on this. But most every one of them seems to want it in some form or another. We need it desperately!!!
The Bonkster

If you hear something enough times, you start to believe it. City leaders need to stop beating the drum about us being in a recession, as that makes it seem and feel and sound worse than it is. Some people are struggling, no doubt - but not everyone in the community.

City leaders could take a more positive tone if they want to help their cause.

Also, the city council could actually take some action some time that disproves the notion we are anti-growth and anti-business.

I thought the exact same thing when I read the article. Hopefully we are wrong because we need a new arena desperately.

Isn

I’ll start out by pointing out that I’m in the younger generation that the city is trying to cater to with a new arena. For the record, I’ve lived near Chicago and New York and I think highly of Lincoln. Yes other places have more entertainment but Lincoln isn’t THAT dull. Seriously I’ve never had trouble finding something to do and with downtown growth fueled by Antelope Valley and Innovation Campus, that will only get better.

Now on to the arena issue. I think Lincoln should raise private money to fix up Pershing and UNL should get athletic boosters to fix up Devaney. I don’t care what Lincoln builds, they are not going to compete with Omaha and even larger markets for concerts and professional sports. The proposed location for the arena is quite questionable and I would not vote to spend tax dollars on a new arena.

If my taxes are going to go up, it better be on something that benefits everyone. Too many large cities across the U.S. have outrageous sales and/or property taxes because of new stadiums, arenas, etc.. The real hell of it though is many of the citizens can’t afford to go to the games, yet still pony up tax dollars for it.

Bottom line is this: I’ve lived in various cities and Lincoln is never going to compete with major markets for big events. Lincoln is however a nice town that with a sort of nostalgia feeling to a time when things were simpler.

Dan Marvin said taxes won’t go up. Surely he’s a man of his (glass is half empty) word.

Your point has merit, but honestly - Pershing is a dump. You can only polish a turd so much. And sadly, Pershing is a big turd samwich at this point in its life.

I’m for the new arena, but I am realistic about it competing with Qwest. It won’t. It could compete with the Mid-America Center or whatever it’s called, maybe.

That said, it can offer a lot to the community, and to the Huskers hoops programs as well. I’m still for it, and hope the powers that be can do a good marketing job.

I’m struggling to picture a fixed-up Pershing.  It’s already blocked in, so there’s no way to truly expand it.  The big complaints were the size of the concourse and the tight seats.  If the intent is to improve it ... how?

If I remember Dan Marvin’s words correctly, he didn’t actually say that taxes won’t go up. I think a property tax increase has all but been removed from consideration, as has a sales tax increase. On the other hand, lodging taxes will almost certainly go up, and a new “entertainment tax” of some sort could very well be introduced.