NU’s tech park grows through land acquisition

While the city of Lincoln, state and University of Nebraska wrangle over a proposed future research park at the State Fairgrounds, the university s existing research and technology park has quietly expanded. The NU Technology Park bought an adjacent 12-acre parcel of undeveloped land from Universal Companies last fall.

Though the park s buildings are currently full, President Steve Frayser said that s not the reason the park bought the land. There are about 112 acres of buildable land in the 151-acre park, and only about one-third have buildings on them, Frayser said. He said the land purchase was seen as an opportunity to provide a buffer between the technology park and an industrial area to the west and prevent a use on the land that might have been less than desirable from the park s point of view.

The technology park, founded in 1996, is home to small start-up companies as well as large established companies such as Verizon Wireless and Cabela’s.

Grand Island eager to land State Fair

Grand Island is moving toward an agreement to host the Nebraska State Fair, but that movement could stall without a little more monetary grease, a leader in the effort says. Cindy Johnson, president of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce, said the State Fair Board has asked her and other Grand Island officials to reduce the estimated $45 million cost of relocating the fair from Lincoln.

The Grand Island group hopes to present a lower cost estimate to the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee this week, Johnson said Wednesday. She and others involved in the negotiations also said that increased private donations could smooth the path for moving the State Fair. Meanwhile, Tonn Ostergard, one of the leaders of the Lincoln business organization called the 2015 Vision group, said it seems possible that Lincoln may get one victory — UNL’s proposed Innovation Campus, which university leaders say will eventually hold 17 research buildings, solve the university’s space crunch and help rev up Nebraska’s economy. “It’s really important that everybody know we have worked very, very hard to present a viable option for the fair (in Lincoln),”

Ostergard said. “But at some point it gets difficult to fit a square peg into a round hole.” Sen. Phil Erdman of Bayard, chairman of the Agriculture Committee, said no decisions on the fair’s future had been made. All three of the remaining options — move the State Fair to Grand Island, move it elsewhere in Lincoln, or leave the fair where it now is — are still possible. “No option is dead,” he said.

At least four from Ag Committee like Grand Island as fair site

At least four of the eight members of the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee regard Grand Island as the best site for the Nebraska State Fair if it moves from Lincoln’s State Fair Park. Sens. Vickie McDonald of St. Paul, Russ Karpisek of Wilber and Annette Dubas of Fullerton favor Grand Island.

Even Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, who has never made any secret of his indifference to the fair, said “if it is to have any relevance, it should be somewhere other than where it is now.” Committee Chairman Phil Erdman of Bayard, still working Wednesday to broker a deal that could convert the fairgrounds to a research campus, was not willing to state a preference for a new location.

Only one senator, Norm Wallman of Cortland, wants to move the fair to near the Lancaster Event Center in northeast Lincoln. Sen. Don Preister of Omaha wants to keep the event in Lincoln, although, he said, “I can live with Grand Island.” The eighth member, M.L. “Cap” Dierks of Ewing, is mostly worried about keeping the cost of any move in check. Erdman has not yet scheduled the executive session needed to advance a bill to the floor.

The committee’s current priority bill would require the university to offer $30 million in compensation for taking over State Fair Park, or its appraised value, whichever is higher. Various amendments are also possible, including an alternative advanced earlier by Sen. Ron Raikes of Lincoln that would remove the fair by 2012 and sort out its destination and any financial implications later.

Cool reception for Lincoln mayor’s State Fair plan

Mayor Chris Beutler has pitched a new plan to keep the State Fair in Lincoln. Only problem is, the plan isn’t getting much love from those expected to foot the bill. The $110 million proposal — drafted by Omaha attorney Kermit Brashear, former speaker of the Legislature and now Lincoln’s legal representative in the debate over the State Fair’s future — counts on $10 million from the city of Lincoln; $30 million from UNL; a $40 million bond issue guaranteed by the NU Foundation; and a $30 million loan to be paid off by revenue generated by turning State Fair Park into a university research and development campus.

The plan doesn’t suggest a specific location for the fair, but Beutler says there are options beyond the Lancaster Event Center at 84th Street and Havelock Avenue, a location supported by NU and a coalition of local business leaders called 2015 Vision but rejected by the State Fair Board. “What’s important is that I think there’s room in Lincoln for both the State Fair and Innovation Park,” Beutler said. But whether the City Council, the university and the NU Foundation are willing or able to chip in tens of millions of dollars to make the Beutler-Brashear proposal work is a big if.

None readily lent support to the plan. UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman said he had no previous knowledge of the proposal. UNL, he said, isn’t in a position to fork over $30 million. The Legislature’s Agriculture Committee had tentatively scheduled an executive session for today to discuss the issue, but that session is temporarily on hold. Committee Chairman Sen. Phil Erdman of Bayard said he remains confident the committee will decide on a bill to forward to the full Legislature soon. “All options are still on the table,” Erdman said.

Nebraska lawmakers to discuss future of State Fair site

Lawmakers are expected to set the stage for a debate on whether to move the State Fair. The Legislature’s Agriculture Committee was scheduled to discuss bills dealing with the fair on Monday, and it is likely the committee will advance a measure to the full Legislature for debate.

The chairman of the committee, Senator Philip Erdman of Bayard, has vowed to resolve the issue this year. There are about only two weeks left in the session.

Lincoln hires Brashear to lobby for State Fair deal

Lincoln has hired a veteran legislative hand to help Lincoln interests acquire the state fairgrounds for a university research park. Mayor Chris Beutler says he turned to his former colleague from the Legislature, former Speaker Kermit Brashear, also in the hopes of keeping the State Fair in Lincoln.

The University of Nebraska wants the fair moved to make way for a research park, a plan supported by a group of Lincoln businesspeople that calls itself 2015 Vision.

UNL Continues Research Into Research Campus

While the cities of Lincoln and Grand Island lobby the Legislature on the State Fair, the University continues to dream of a research campus at the fairgrounds. UNL Chancellor Harvey Perlman says the University has spoken with three companies that might one day occupy part of the research campus.

Perlman tells KLIN News that no financial numbers have been run on the economic impact, but one of the business they spoke to had a business model that estimated 1,500 new jobs on the low side and 15,000 on the high side.

G.I. officials say site offers ideal location for state fair

Cindy Johnson, president of the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce, along with Jay Vavricek, owner of GI Family Radio, met with Aurora leaders last week to discuss issues related to the state fair, including proposed ideas, legislative action and the affect the state fair could have on Aurora if the event was moved to Grand Island.

While the Legislature will make the final decision regarding the fate of the state fair, Johnson, Vavricek and other Grand Island city officials are hoping to see the fair move to a location near Fonner Park. Located on the grounds of the present day Fonner Park, Johnson explained that the City of Grand Island has proposed a new 100,000 square foot building for exhibition and two 67,000 square feet buildings for equine events that would be built in phase one of a construction project.

Grand Island officials have proposed holding the state fair in conjunction with Husker Harvest Days, which draws thousands each year. Johnson and Vavricek have estimated that moving the state fair to Grand Island would cost $41 million. Legislation now before the Legislature, LB1116, offers a $30 million price for anyone who may purchase land at the existing State Fair Park.

Christian Evans, the newly hired executive director of the Aurora Area Chamber & Development Corporation said moving the event to central Nebraska would be a real asset to area communities over the long haul.

Nebraska State Fair move to G.I. more than a dream

Talks about a State Fair move to Grand Island have become more serious during the past two months, as the city has been mentioned as one of the top contenders for a new fair site. If the fair moves, Grand Island and an area on 84th Street in East Lincoln are probably the two most viable spots, said Sen. Philip Erdman of Bayard, chairman of the Legislature Agriculture Committee.

Since their last appearance before the ag committee in December, representatives from Grand Island have had more extensive conversations with Erdman and the State Fair board about a possible move of the fair to Grand Island. Community leaders are preparing for a Feb. 26 ag committee hearing to address the four bills introduced this year regarding the State Fair. In addition to voicing their support or opposition to the bills, Grand Island representatives hope to be able to provide the Legislature and the State Fair board with more thought-out options for the potential relocation.

“We have said that Grand Island has a good site if the State Fair leaves its current location, and it now sounds like the State Fair is resigned to leaving their current location,” said Cindy Johnson, president of the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce.

Talks aim to help resolve Nebraska State Fair site issue

Legislative Speaker Mike Flood of Norfolk and Agriculture Committee Chairman Phil Erdman of Bayard held tandem meetings Thursday night in an effort to bring together the parties involved in the dispute over the future location of the Nebraska State Fair. Flood spent about four hours in discussions with representatives of Grand Island who have made a bid to move the fair there, as well as UNL’s 2015 Vision group, which hopes to convert the existing fairgrounds into an NU research park.

Meanwhile, Erdman met with two representatives of the Nebraska State Fair Board in his first-floor office. The two officials went back and forth between the two offices with different ideas, Flood said. However, they did not expect to come up with a proposal to resolve the long-running dispute Thursday. “In all honesty, there’s no meeting of the minds,” Flood said. “We’re having conversations and trying to understand the numbers.” The issue arose in late 2006, when some prominent Lincoln business leaders, called the 2015 Vision group, proposed moving the State Fair so that its 251-acre, state-owned site could be used for UNL research facilities. Fair officials have resisted the idea, saying there isn’t enough money from private donors or the state to relocate the fair and its Thoroughbred racetrack.