Three Omaha metro area projects are receiving additional funding through the State of Nebraska’s “Shovel-Ready” program.
During the pandemic, many projects throughout the state were delayed. In response, the Unicameral passed the Shovel-Ready Capital Recovery and Investment Act to assist nonprofit organizations with capital projects affected by the pandemic.
The grant money totaled $115 million with $100 million coming from ARPA funds. This week, Governor Pillen announced that Omaha Performing Arts, Joslyn Art Museum and the Elkhorn Athletic Association will each received around $2 million to help complete projects.
Omaha Performing Arts will use the funds on the downtown Tenaska Center for Arts Engagement, currently under construction on the east side of the Hollard Performing Arts Center. The $108 million, 3-story building will offer additional rehearsal, workshop and classroom spaces to accommodate expanding education and community engagement programs, which already serve more than 100,000 students, teachers and community members each year. A large event venue will also be part of this new center.
Project plans were developed when Omaha Performing Arts determined it was out of space for these activities and after interviews with local organizations and community leaders, as well as research about similar venues around the country. The center is scheduled to open in 2026.
Joslyn Art Museum will use the additional funding to help complete the $100 million, 42,000 sq. ft. Rhonda and Howard Hawks Pavilion expansion project that is scheduled to open in September. The Hawks Pavilion will offer the first public presentation of new acquisitions from the Phillip G. Schrager Collection, which the Joslyn says is perhaps the most significant gift of art it has received.
Elkhorn Athletic Association intends to use its funding on Phase II of the First Interstate Bank SportsPlex in Valley. The second phase will add four additional baseball and softball fields, doubling the current number of fields.
The 120-acre complex is just north Highway 275 and south of Ida Street. The first phase was completed earlier this spring. That initial phase included six soccer fields and four softball/baseball fields. First interstate Bank and Elkhorn Athletic Association have a 20-year naming rights partnership.
