Lincoln Arena Vote On Hold

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Economy delays financing
Posted: 3:52 PM Jan 13, 2009
Last Updated: 7:40 PM Jan 13, 2009
Reporter: WOWT
Email Address: sixonline@wowt.com

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The current economic crunch is putting a dent in plans for a new arena in Lincoln. A vote on the project scheduled for this spring will be delayed.

Mayor Chris Beutler said Tuesday the group that wishes to provide much of the financing is hesitant to move forward at this time.

"We do not want to jeopardize the faith of the Lincoln residents by putting forward a package that does not adequately answer the question of arena financing. A delay allows us to more clearly answer this question."

Beutler said the economy's impact on Lincoln workers and the city budget also contributed to the delay.

He believes a new arena is vital to the city's growth. Without it, Beutler says Lincoln could lose high school state championships which bring in millions of dollars in revenue.

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Posted by: LLR on Jan 15, 2009 at 10:06 AM
Many in the city of Lincoln are totally against this idea (if you think homes are over-valued in Omaha, try living in Lincoln once). BUT at least they were going to be given a chance to VOTE on it...something Omahans were not allowed to do for Fahey's Folley.

Posted by: Tim V on Jan 13, 2009 at 08:55 PM
Omaha is a corrupt outfit. Every city is building a new arena/stadium/convention center. Guess what? Not everyone is interested in sports. Not everyone goes to these facilities. Not everyone can afford concerts, fireworks, etc. Plus, losing the good jobs means who will be around to go? The real jobs are being lost permanently. Where are the future jobs at? It's all good? Then what? who will pay the inevitable deficits when recessions and other setbacks occur. Sure Omaha gets Volleyball and NCAA March Madness. But, a few days every several years is nothing that a city can survive on.

Posted by: Alf on Jan 13, 2009 at 07:30 PM
Humm, be a stick in the mud with money or have a flashy new toy that you can’t even afford to open. Humm choices choices; If it was up to me I’d chose to have some money for the piddly things like police, fire protection, decent roads and money to maintain all of the other attractions we have in Omaha; but hey, you and Mikey can hang with each other and talk about how good it is to tax people to death, how great it is to watch baseball for 2 weeks and what you two are going to do with an empty stadium for the other 50 weeks out of the of the year. At least the Lincoln residents and taxpayers have a say in what happens in their city, and their city government even respect their taxpayers enough to listen! Omaha on the other hand is on another planet I guess, or it is just testament to how corrupt Omaha city government really is!

Posted by: Bill on Jan 13, 2009 at 06:15 PM
How about doing the same Mikey? Probably not, you and Ken Stinson are bound to make a bundle off of your Folley!

Posted by: Andy on Jan 13, 2009 at 05:06 PM
TJ, Linclon can continue to be a stuck in the mud city. Me thinks this arena vote would not have gotten very far even with decent economic times.

Posted by: TJ on Jan 13, 2009 at 04:06 PM
Mayor Fahey, did you read this? Sounds like Lincoln has their people in mind here.