T-Squares & I Beams
Gene Leahy to Bridge Gaps
By Jeff Beals • THE CITY WEEKLY

If an urban park is to be successful, it must be aesthetically pleasing, pedestrian friendly, well designed and safe.

The Gene Leahy Mall, originally called Central Park Mall, is one of Omaha’s most iconic places. Bounded by 11th, 14th, Douglas and Farnam streets, Gene Leahy Mall is Omaha’s No. 1 urban park, and it has been an undeniably huge success. Its completion about 30 years ago kicked off a long-running series of construction projects. Its existence laid the foundation for projects like Heartland Park and the ConAgra campus. It helped make the Old Market so alluring. One could also argue if not for the developments sparked by the mall, more recent projects, like Qwest Center Omaha and the Riverfront, may have never happened.

But just because the Gene Leahy Mall has been an outstanding economic development engine, does not mean it can’t be better. On Tuesday, March 15, community leaders released recommendations for improving the mall. Known as “The Gene Leahy Mall/11th Street Project,” the recommendations are a collaborative effort of Omaha by Design, the City of Omaha, private businesses and local philanthropists in an effort to fix up what may be Omaha’s most visible location.

In preparing the recommendations, the study group examined the mall and the 11th Street corridor, which connects the mall to the Old Market. North of the mall, 11th Street runs just east of the new Holland Performing Arts Center and dead ends at Capitol Ave, just south of the Hilton Omaha Hotel. There is currently no connectivity of 11th Street over or through the mall.

Project leaders solicited a great deal of community input while formulating the recommendations. Omaha by Design held “place games” in which volunteer participants were asked to dream and imagine what the area could ideally look like. Similarly, design “charrettes” were held, in which members of the public weighed in on the park’s future. The work eventually formed several key recommendations that address three primary themes emerging from the public discussions: safety and visibility; access and circulation; and activities and programming.

To improve the mall, Omaha by Design recommends removing unnecessary walls and selectively pruning the trees and landscaping to improve visibility and site lines. Trails and pathways would be revamped so they are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The wider trails would also be able to accommodate emergency vehicles if necessary and may provide a scenic path for the Old Market horse-and-buggy tours.

The existing pedestrian bridge, which crosses the lagoon and a small island just east of 13th Street, would be removed. It does not provide the level of connectivity desired by project leaders, and could be a safety risk, because it is structurally unable to hold large numbers of people. In its place three new bridges would carry pedestrians over the lagoon at strategically chosen points in the mall’s trail system.

Overall, the newly designed mall would remove blind corners and overgrown areas so that people feel safe. It is important to note that the mall has never been unsafe – Omaha by Design’s director Connie Spellman points out that crime there has been historically very low – but the park’s design causes some people to perceive it might be unsafe. That problem would be solved with the renovations.

The proposed project is divided into four phases, which could be done separately if funding is an issue. The first phase would take place in the western edge of the mall. Plans call for an enhancement of the waterfall and wading pools and more visibility. Instead of a jagged, stair-step design, the park’s elevation would gradually slope down to the water level. The overgrown “forest” at the far northwest corner of the mall would be significantly redesigned.

The second phase would be the most dramatic and expensive. Walkways would be widened and new pathways added. An all season plaza/activity area would replace the series of walls and paths of different elevations that currently exist on the north side. In the winter, the plaza would be frozen for use as a downtown, public ice-skating rink. Kiosks would be available for food vending.

Phase three would take place in the southeast corner of the mall. A pedestrian bridge would cross the lagoon at 11th Street, creating connectivity between the Old Market and the new attractions north of the mall. The famous slides would remain, but a greatly expanded playground area would be placed near the arch.

Finally, 11th Street would be spruced up between the Old Market and the mall. Designers would honor the spirit of the Old Market in new construction through scale, design and materials. The goal would be to create artist pavilions, install brick streets and decorative, circular planters at all intersections.

The recommendations from this project are well thought and good for Omaha. We as a community need to come together to make this happen.

With the billions of dollars worth of investment that has taken place downtown in recent years, renovating the Gene Leahy mall makes sense. Next to the beautiful new office towers and the striking architecture of the Performing Arts Center, the mall simply looks worn out and tired.

As Omaha by Design leaders like to say, the Gene Leahy Mall has done a great job as an economic development generator, but now it needs to do more to increase quality of life for all Omahans. It needs to become a generator of residential and retail development in downtown Omaha.

As the population density downtown continues to increase, there will frankly be a big need for the mall’s proposed amenities. Literally thousands of people will be moving into new downtown multi-family buildings in the next two years. The number of office workers will continue to rise. As Qwest Center Omaha becomes more popular, many more conventioneers will be walking around downtown Omaha looking for something to do. The renovated mall is another important step in Omaha’s continued march toward cosmopolitanism.

At $17.1 million, the project is expensive, but Omaha cannot afford to allow its attractions to fall into disrepair and disuse. This community is famous for its public-private partnerships, in which business leaders, the philanthropic community and local government come together to make the city a better, more prosperous place. While she warns that nothing is guaranteed until the funds are secured, Omaha by Design leader Connie Spellman is confident that Omahans will come together to make the project happen. She said he has been pleased with the enthusiasm generated by the project recommendations. That’s a good sign. A renovated Gene Leahy Mall would be a worthy project for Omaha’s next great public-private success story.


Jeff Beals, vice president of operations for Coldwell Banker Commercial World Group, hosts a weekly radio talk-show called “Grow Omaha,” which focuses on economic development in the Omaha area. It airs Saturdays at 8 a.m. on KKAR (1290 AM). Beals co-hosts the show with Trenton Magid.