Nebraska Athletics proposed relocating convention center to near Memorial Stadium

The county closed this week on Block 90, a site near the Cornhusker hotel selected from more than 1,000 considered for the convention center. But its application to use a turnback tax to help finance the project remains pending after Gov. Jim Pillen asked a state board in May to delay a vote.

During that pause, Nebraska Athletics pitched a separate proposal to locate the convention center adjacent to Memorial Stadium, potentially tapping the same type of state tax financing the county is seeking.

At a meeting in June, Athletic Director Troy Dannen and Deputy Athletic Director Kortne Gosha pitched the idea to Pillen and others to locate a convention center on the ground floor of a condo/hotel tower with a connecting walkway to the stadium.

Pillen said he may be open to the idea, but no formal plans for the site just west of Memorial Stadium, which is home to the Champions Club and a parking lot, have been publicly announced.

Work on a $600 million stadium renovation, which is being funded through private donations and bond financing, is underway and will accelerate after the Huskers' final home game this fall.

After the June meeting, the Kansas-based consulting firm working with the owners on both the stadium rebuild and the county convention center project — Legends Global — was asked to do a study of the Athletic Department's proposal. 

But before that study could be completed, Legends Global terminated its contract with Lancaster County and Assemble Lincoln, the committee formed in 2023 to choose the convention center site.

On Friday, Nebraska Athletics described the discussions as for land use and said its attention remains fixed on the ambitious rebuild of Memorial Stadium.

"We are always open to listening when approached with ideas regarding land or facility use in the athletics footprint," the department said in a statement. "That said, our sole focus right now is on the Big Red Rebuild project, and there are no other active projects."

Confident in existing site

Members of Assemble Lincoln remain committed to Block 90, which is across 13th Street from the Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel, and is bounded by M, L, and 14th streets.

Block 90 has been floated as the best site available for a convention center going back decades, but the project has failed to find traction.

In the meantime, the Capital City has missed out on as much as 70% of the convention circuit it otherwise could have attracted, according to Jason Ball, president of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce.

A feasibility study that began in 2020 injected renewed energy into the idea. Several business and civic groups — the chamber, Downtown Lincoln Association, Rotary 14 and others — banded together to form Assemble Lincoln.

The coalition hired Legends Global, which has expertise in the development of stadiums, arenas, convention centers and other public spaces, to help it develop criteria for narrowing down and ultimately selecting a new site to develop.

At the same time, Pillen signed a bill (LB727) passed by the Legislature in 2023 with bipartisan support allowing for the creation of a turnback tax. The tax would direct up to 70% of the state sales tax collected within a 600-yard radius of a project proposed by a political subdivision to pay for the project's development. For the university to tap into the turnback tax, it would need to partner with a local government.

Assemble Lincoln in March 2025 announced Block 90 had risen to the top during its selection process, which included dozens of public meetings and site visits across Lincoln. The Lancaster County Board approved the site's selection in May 2025.

In its application, Assemble Lincoln cited the proximity to the state Capitol, the flexibility afforded by being situated on an entire city block, the fit the project had with Lincoln's downtown revitalization plans and the connections to other districts in the area.

Ball, who joined the Chamber in January 2022, said Block 90 has the potential of generating the greatest economic impact for Lincoln and the surrounding area.

"When you look at things like access to transportation networks, hotels, future areas where hotels or parking can be built, all the things that come along with a convention center, that site is head and shoulders above any other corner of our downtown," Ball said.

Assemble Lincoln said the chosen site would be able to operate year-round without interruption. It's far enough away from the stadium that conventions wouldn't be disrupted by home football games, or events at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

The Haymarket post office — another considered site — would have come with 60 "blackout dates" every year, Ball said, which would have caused the center to otherwise lose out on convention dates.

"The analysis that has been done over the course of years, if not decades, shows a demonstrated value at the selected location," he added.

Stadium site floated

Lincoln Sen. Eliot Bostar, the chairman of Assemble Lincoln, said Block 90 was selected after years of deliberations, including dozens of meetings open to the public and opportunities for feedback.

After the project's application to create a turnback tax district was put on hold, Bostar said he was invited to hear an alternative proposal being offered by Nebraska Athletics.

"My initial gut instinct was that the site we had selected was superior to a location next to the stadium for many reasons," Bostar said. "But I was asked to keep an open mind about it, which is a fair request."

Following a meeting with Pillen, Dannen and others focused on developing the first floors of a proposed mixed-use tower across Stadium Drive to the west of Memorial Stadium, Bostar suggested the idea be studied more formally.

Legends Global, which was familiar with the work Assemble Lincoln did to select the site and is the owner's representative on behalf of the University of Nebraska on its stadium rebuild, was asked to outline an evaluation.

"Since we all were working with them, that seemed like the right direction," Bostar said.

After negotiating a few points with Nebraska Athletics, all parties agreed to the study's parameters, Bostar said. Legends Global submitted its proposal on July 6, according to a copy of the proposal provided to the Journal Star.

"Legends is pleased to outline an approach to evaluate the Alumni Hall site using the same structured site selection process previously undertaken by Assemble Lincoln for potential public and private convention center sites," the letter states.

"This approach is intended to ensure consistency, transparency and comparability with prior analyses," Legends added.

The evaluation would have considered the size, configuration, access and visibility of a facility. It would also look at capacity for exhibit halls, meeting rooms and a ballroom in the stadium-adjacent site with the 160,000 square feet proposed for the Block 90 proposal.

Legends' study also would have detailed back-of-house functions, loading docks, availability of parking, proximity to other hotels and how surrounding events might affect use of the facility throughout the year.

Fabio VazdeMelo Braz, a project director for the Assemble Lincoln selection process, also said Legends would have looked at project readiness, community integration and growth, accessibility and connectivity, existing site conditions and "turnback tax implications."

"Based on the information currently available, the site appears to present a compelling university district opportunity," the proposal states, "however, it will need to demonstrate its ability to accommodate the full Lancaster County Convention Center program."

At its conclusion, the study would determine if the site adjacent to Memorial Stadium "should be considered a convention center replacement site, a complementary university event venue, or a separate mixed-use development opportunity."

It's unclear if the analysis ever happened.

Two weeks after receiving the proposal for the evaluation, Legends Global terminated its contract on July 20 with Assemble Lincoln in a brief phone call to David Derbin, Lancaster County's chief administrative officer.

Both Bostar and Ball said losing the consultant was a shock, while Bostar said he believed if the study had been done, it would have reinforced Block 90 as the right pick for a convention center.

"I think that analysis is exactly the kind of information that would be most beneficial to have at a time like this so we could move forward in the most-informed way possible," Bostar said.

Governor considering options

While Nebraska Athletics said it was focused on the Memorial Stadium project and had no other projects in the works, Pillen's office indicated the governor is considering the idea of placing the convention center near the stadium — under the right circumstances.

"The governor is open to any viable idea for a convention center in Lincoln," a spokeswoman for Pillen told the Journal Star on Friday. "However, to ensure fiscal responsibility and protect taxpayers, he must give serious consideration to a newly proposed, privately funded stadium-adjacent option over a competing proposal that requires $150 million in public funding."

It isn't the first time Pillen has voiced concern over the return of state sales tax to the convention center development.

Earlier this year, in his request that the Convention Center Facility Financing Assistance Act Board table the project for 30 days — the board has not held a meeting for four months — Pillen also voiced worry about the loss of state revenue.

"This project has been in conversations since 1980, and so I think there's a lot of opportunity to do good for the state," he said at the time. "However, there were numbers that have changed just recently that have given me consternation."

Pillen said one analysis showed the convention center could receive $24 million in state sales taxes each year over a 20-year period.

Bostar said the governor's figure came from outdated information; support from the state would be in the range of $10.3 million annually.

According to the application Assemble Lincoln submitted to the state board charged with reviewing turnback tax districts, the convention center is expected to generate $21.2 million in economic activity by 2031.

Ball said the downtown convention center remains a priority for the Lincoln Chamber, its members and the business community more broadly. Hearing Legends had withdrawn from the project was alarming, he said.

"I'm still trying to understand everything that has happened," Ball said. "I have reached out not only to folks with the university, but also to Legends directly, and my concern is that there was a perception the stadium location would somehow be in competition with the Assemble Lincoln location."

Both the Chamber president and the state senator said they fully support and are excited by the Big Red Rebuild and efforts to boost activity around the stadium and expand its use to more than seven Saturdays in the fall.

"Our goal here is maximizing economic impact, and we are happy to work alongside the university system, the flagship campus and the Athletic Department to achieve their goals, too," Ball said. 

"I'm excited to see what the stadium project produces. I really am," Bostar said.

"This is just a bump in the road, and I believe that all of the interested parties will come to recognize that the application we've already submitted offers the best opportunity for economic and community growth," he added.