Ralston looking to lure Lancers with ice rink of their own

[jhuston]

A proposed 3,500-seat ice complex and arena is getting positive feedback from Ralston area residents who would like to see the land at the site of the former Lakeview Golf Course give the city another venue for sports and entertainment.

On March 29, the Nebraska Legislature took another step toward helping Ralston make the arena a reality, voting to move Legislative Bill 779 – which would provide a funding mechanism for such arenas – to the Select File for further debate.

Ralston Mayor Don Groesser has said early plans for the arena include two sheets of ice and could be converted into a venue for other sports and events. Planners are also pondering the inclusion of retail stores and a sports-themed restaurant in the venue.

So far, the plan to “bring the ice back” to the site of Seymour Lake has Ralstonites and other area residents liking what they hear.

After losing Lakeview Golf Course, several people said the city needed a new outlet for sports.

“I think it will be great – a positive influence on the area,” said Ralston resident Julie Nelsen. “It will be another athletic venue for kids and [it will] bring new people into the area.”

Other denizens praised the plan for what it will do to fill the sizeable hole left in the city since Lakeview closed three years ago.

Joe Distefano and Glen Bennett of Ralston said the city could use an attraction to that area of the city.

“It would be a great addition,” Bennett said. “It would bring a lot of revenue and people into the area. What else would you do with that pond?”

“I think it would be a good use of the land,” Distefano added.

The potential entertainment value was also something people living in the area said would attract them to spending more time and money in Ralston.

At the Ralston Barber Shop on a recent Saturday morning, Mike Naegele and Corey Christenson, 1996 graduates of Ralston High School and both now living in Sarpy County, said they would definitely make the trip up 72nd Street for ice sports and concerts.

“We’d definitely do something like that,” Christenson said. “I haven’t taken the kids ice skating and with [ice rinks] Hitchcock and Tranquility so far away, this would be a better opportunity for us.”

And with the Omaha Lancers reputedly interested in becoming tenants at the Ralston facility, Naegele said it would certainly be a pull for him and his family.

“It’s a great idea,” he said. “Especially if they could get the Lancers. This would be a great thing for getting Ralston out there, giving Ralston something new to show itself. I hope they do it.”

[jhuston]

New rendering for the Ralston arena, which is well into construction

[Ankeny Husker Freak]

Do the Lancers still have the following like they did when the team played at Ak-Sar-Ben in the mid 90's?

[UrbanNebraska]

Do the Lancers still have the following like they did when the team played at Ak-Sar-Ben in the mid 90's?

Lancers are still among the top attendance numbers in the league, but the fervor isn't nearly the same. UNO hockey stole a lot of it's thunder.

Also this is where UNO basketball, the Lingerie Football League and the possible NBA D-League team will play.

[DMRyan]

I know Omaha is a big college sports town, but this trend of moving all of the minor league clubs to the far SW suburbs is concerning. On my last visit, I tried to find the new baseball stadium and was blown away with how far out in BFE it was.

I suppose if the college sports scene saturates the downtown market, this could make plenty of business sense long term to open up minor league sports to a growing suburban submarket of the metro instead. For an outsider, seeing these teams build venues out in the cornfields is a head scratcher though. I know this issue has been discussed ad naseum on the Omaha forums but deep down, you know it's tough to defend or justify the notion of moving venues like this so far away from the remainder of the activity of the city. I know Omaha is a very linear city, but there's something special about going to a sporting event in an area with more activity. I'm sure the locals can tell the difference in the feel of the venues and atmosphere when they compare what is in downtown Omaha versus the bean fields of Sarpy County.

The poor (and now unneeded) Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs must be awfully quiet these days.

[UrbanNebraska]

I really look at is as the suburban cities taking a run at Omaha's amenities. Sarpy Country ponied up the $35 Million for the new ballpark in the corn fields and offered the Storm Chasers(Royals) the park they had always wanted and to their credit it is a nice ballpark with everything your new AAA ballpark needs to draw a crowd. I have only been once, but my younger cousins and their parents absolutely love the place. The trouble is Omaha has a downtown $131 Million ballpark that sits empty all summer, its such a wasted opportunity. If the two sides could of come to an agreement I think the neighborhood would be a lot stronger than it is right now. I am sure there could of been ways to make the downtown stadium more family friendly for the AAA schedule and more corporate for the two weeks the NCAA runs the place. Also I think they should of built the AAA stadium way closer to I-80 and the Cabela's area, sort of make our own mini KC Legends situation. It's current location is really the middle of nowhere, terrible terrible planning in our suburban communities.

Ralston saw an opportunity to capitalize on the mid range market that the Mid-America Center never could achieve. I still think this is a big stigma to cross the river in this city. As stupid as that is people simply didn't want to go to CB to watch the Lancers. It is a shame really, that is a nice facility that doesn't get much use. At least this Ralston Arena is on 72nd Street in a really established area instead of a corn field.

[hawk61401]

Ralston gave 80 percent support to funding the ice and events arena. That's the difference between Des Moines, it's suburbs and Omaha and it's burbs. Never in the history of the Des Moines metro has a bond issue passed with 80% approval. The Omaha area is building big city things because they have more of a can do attitude.

Des Moines voters like paved roads and indoor plumbing. But if a bond issue does pass, it's because it squeaks by the 60% necessary approval. Rarely, if ever, does a bond issue pass even in the 70's range, let alone the 80's.

To put it in a little perspective, Ralston is smaller than Pleasant Hill.

[Mastermind]

Not sure what information you are thinking of, but not ALL referendums squeek by. Johnston passed the Public Safety Building vote by 82% last year.

[jhuston]

As far as baseball... Omaha was faced with this dilemma... not necessarily a bad one. That dilemma being the College World Series. It can't be held in a minor league sized ballpark. Likewise, if you'd ever been to a Royals game at Rosenblatt... minor league baseball totally sucks in an oversized stadium. It would have been just as bad an atmosphere at the new stadium. Sure, Werner Park is in the middle of nowhere, but when you're actually at the ball game, the atmosphere is 100X better than it was at Rosenblatt. Attendance has continued to rise (there's no denying that segment of the suburban population that appreciates proximity more than surrounding amenities as well), it wouldn't surprise me if they ultimately expanded Werner at some point, although right now I think they're enjoying being in the position of having tickets which are suddenly a little harder to get (with the stadiums much smaller capacity). Of course the hope of Papillion and Sarpy County is, that something 'special' will develop around the ballpark.

[BenRoethig]

I can see the AAA team's dilema there. TD park is basically a small market major league park. The Storm Chasers would look like the expos.