The Haymarket will likely be getting an arena and a new hotel. While some are worried that the new arena will be a letdown comparable to the Qwest Center in Omaha, other Lincoln residents hope that it will bring more business to the area.
Connie Mahamey owns the From Nebraska Gift Shop, which has been in the Haymarket since 1992. "I think it's great," she said of the redevelopment plans.
Mahamey isn't worried that Lincoln will run into the same problems Omaha has. "The difference between ours and their's is that ours will be right up next to the Haymarket," unlike in Omaha where you have to get in your car and drive to the shops and restaurants, she said.
The new arena should help businesses in the historic district gain more customers as well. "Hopefully sales will increase," Mahamey said. "We keep losing businesses," she added, citing the closing of nearby sweet shop Chocolate Expressions. "When there's not enough traffic, it's almost impossible to survive," Mahamey said.
"We already get a lot of our customers from conventions and meetings," so the new entertainment venue will bring in more, said Gabby Ayala, assistant manager of the 10,000 Villages store in the Haymarket.
The only negative Ayala sees coming from the new structures would be destruction of the historic atmosphere. "We want the Haymarket to keep its character," she said. "We want it to keep being a hubbub of art."
