Developing the Sandhills Global Youth Complex and Downtown Lincoln Convention Center

by Chris Whitney

Lincoln’s skyline continues to evolve, and with it comes new opportunities and events to welcome visitors into our community and keep them coming back for more.

Two venues — the Sandhills Global Youth Complex and Downtown Lincoln Convention Center — will be at the heart of the Lincoln downtown area. In the years ahead, they will allow Lincolnites and visitors alike to gather, play, and more.

Set for completion in Spring 2025 and with tournaments already booked upon that completion, the Sandhills Global Youth Complex will feature eight turfed fields, including two championship fields, one for baseball and one for softball, and five youth fields for baseball and softball. A field, “Homer’s Heroes,” will also be designed for boys and girls with physical or intellectual disabilities, allowing youth of all backgrounds and abilities to come together and play.

The complex will positively impact Lincoln and local youth for future generations. It will include a playground, parking for over 750 vehicles, concession stands, and other amenities such as warm-up batting cages and more. It will truly be a place where families can relax, enjoy competition, and comfortably spend an afternoon or entire weekend.

“With its location just north of our downtown and Haymarket areas, visitors coming to the complex will be just steps away from restaurants, hotels, shopping and other activities,” notes Jeff Maul, Executive Director of Visit Lincoln. “The Sandhills Global Youth Complex, as a first-of-its-kind facility here in Nebraska, is an excellent and vital addition to our evolving tourism skyline for Lincoln and will bring thousands of visitors into our community and help bolster local businesses.”

“It will be a game-changer for Lincoln,” Maul concludes.

Ground broke in 2023 on the facility, with generous support from the City of Lincoln, Lancaster County, JPA, and private sector funding, making the $27 million complex a reality. As numerous local partners have joined the project, including Sandhills Global, who contributed a $4 million gift to the facility and grounds, the complex will fill a need for local and visiting youth to play the games they love.

When it’s not hosting youth tournaments that bring in visitors from around the area, Sandhills Global Youth Complex will house Nebraska Wesleyan University’s baseball and softball programs, providing a new home for the Prairie Wolves at the collegiate level. Collegiate competition will bolster the profile of the new complex as it begins to take shape in the near future, with the very first “play ball” not too far away.

“The schedule is filling up with events, and the Sandhills Global Youth Complex will continue to show Lincoln’s increased status as a youth sports tourism destination,” says Derek Bombeck, Director of Sports for Visit Lincoln. “We are trying to build one of the very best baseball/softball complexes in the United States and one that will bring visitors to our community for years to come.”

Lincoln continues to be a sports destination for numerous national championships and high-profile events, including Garmin Gravel Worlds, the Tire Rack Sports Car Club of America Solo National Championships, the ATP Lincoln Challenger tennis event, and many others. A growing youth sports profile is only set to enhance the city’s reputation as a sports-loving community.

Meanwhile, planning continues to take shape for the build-out of the Downtown Lincoln Convention Center. A project long in the pipeline for Lincoln, the Assemble Lincoln standing committee comprised of local, state, and federal policymakers, business leaders, and members of the Lincoln community, features members of Lancaster County government, the Nebraska State Legislature, Governor Jim Pillen’s office, Congressman Mike Flood’s office, and the private sector. This committee has held bi-weekly meetings since 2023 regarding the development and operation of Lincoln’s Downtown Convention Center.

Assemble Lincoln is contracted with Legends, a global premium experiences company that works with some of the most iconic and innovative brands in sports and entertainment, including convention centers in large cities, to develop this world-class venue and community gathering place for Lincoln. The project architects are Kansas City-based Populous and Lincoln’s Clark & Enersen, who represent both local talent and national expertise in convention center design and development.

The goal is to have a final site for the convention center selected by early 2025, with groundbreaking and construction to follow. Shortlisting of three finalist sites in July 2024 for a convention center location occurred, including the Garfield Public/Private Site near the Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel along 13th Street from L to N streets; the REV Development Site at 10th and N streets and the Haymarket Post Office, located next to Pinnacle Bank Arena near 8th and R streets.

“Just as the Sandhills Global Youth Complex adds to our downtown skyline, a convention center would increase our ability to attract events to Lincoln and bring business into our community,” notes Maul. “As recent studies have shown, Lincoln is an underserved market for hosting conventions, with people and groups wanting to meet here but lacking enough facilities to do so.”

“A downtown convention center is needed for Lincoln, and we are excited to feel its positive impacts for years to come once it is completed,” Maul adds.

Adding a convention center was one important note identified in the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce’s Vitality Lincoln Strategic Plan, finalized in 2023.

“Vitality Lincoln is the outcome of a robust-community wide development process and will take our community acting in partnership to complete,” says Jason Ball, President and CEO of the Lincoln Chamber of Commerce. “A downtown convention center represents a tremendous springboard to help grow and enhance Lincoln as a destination,” Ball adds.

The Sandhills Global Youth Complex and Downtown Lincoln Convention Center represent the next phase of Lincoln’s development as a tourism destination and will bring thousands of visitors to the community. It is a unique opportunity for Lincoln to grow and showcase what makes our vibrant community the place it is now and will become as we look to the future. 

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