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Send Council Rejects Mayor's $50,000 Study

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Council Rejects Mayor's $50,000 Study

The Omaha City Council has rejected a proposal from Mayor Suttle to study whether the Music Hall and Mancuso Hall buildings could survive when the Civic Auditorium is taken down.

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Reporter: Brian Mastre

The Omaha City Council has rejected a proposal from Mayor Suttle to study whether the Music Hall and Mancuso Hall buildings could survive when the Civic Auditorium is taken down.

By a vote of 2-5, a majority of council members argued that keeping the two structures next to the razed Civic property would limit a developer’s options with the property.

Mayor Suttle had requested a $50,000 study to examine the options. One suggestion involved building a new police headquarters on the razed land.

Council member Jean Stothert says there would still be a similar problem with development since OPD headquarters would use only half of the property and the city would be on the hook for demolition costs.

In addition, Tom Mulligan, Franklin Thompson, Pete Festersen and Chris Jerram voted against the study.

It was also pointed out that the Building Commission did an extensive study and recommended the best and most cost effective solution was to renovate the current police headquarters.

The Civic Auditorium is 57 years old.