4/7/26 Omaha City Council Meeting
After a week off, the Omaha City Council had a lot to talk about. We saw a handful of liquor license applications and approval recommendations. We also saw an important discussion about a potential Union Omaha Soccer Field.
As always, I will start with liquor licenses. Pastime Neighborhood Bar and Grill and Sapri Liquor Store are existing Omaha businesses, but they both received recommended approvals from the council. Assemble, which is a craft space for adults, Sonys Builder District, and Umphium Fusion and Sushi Bar are new businesses coming to Omaha, and the council recommended approvals for all their applications as well!
The “headliner” of the meeting was the Union Omaha Stadium conversation. Union Omaha, Omaha’s (very successful*) soccer team, does not have its own stadium. The team is often playing in Papillion, or the Creighton stadium right now. Having a new soccer stadium would obviously give the team somewhere to play, but it would also greatly benefit the city of Omaha. In the meeting, we heard that the stadium would be used for soccer games for many teams, not just Union Omaha. It would also attract more tourism. It is expected that the stadium will be used as many as 250 days out of the year. Another benefit of this stadium is the opportunities it will open up. Hundreds of construction jobs will be available, and after construction is done, there will be many more jobs available in the stadium. The city of Omaha will own the stadium to ensure that it will remain successful and in-use in the off chance that something were to happen to the teams. This stadium is going to be a massive opportunity for young athletes in Omaha. The vote was postponed until next week, so tune in to next week’s blog to learn about the result.
Another topic that was discussed was the demolition of the old hotel on 180th and L. While it seems like something that wouldn’t cause much discourse, it was discussed for a while. The hotel has been an eyesore for the community for a long time, so why was there any debate about it being demolished? It’s very dramatic. The city had originally ordered the building to be demolished, but because of the financial situation, the owner ended up getting a temporary restraining order against the city. The city had said that they would pay for the demolition costs, and when the owner eventually sells the land, he would pay back the city. Because of the restraining order, the demolition cannot be done. The building is notorious for trafficking, violence, and lots of other dangerous things. Delaying the demolition would ultimately allow for all these things to continue until they get rid of the building. So the question is, do they just pay for the demolition and not require the owner to pay a dime, or fight this for much longer? Fighting it for longer would allow dangerous situations to remain, but fighting it would lead to the owner being almost rewarded for neglecting his building and retaliating against the city.
This week’s meeting was action-packed to say the least. Next week, the city will vote on the decision for both the stadium and the creepy hotel, so make sure to check our social media for summaries, or check back here for more information.