After years of planning, the Haymarket arena is coming closer to being built.
On Monday, the Lincoln City Council will vote on whether to let voters decide the fate of the proposed Haymarket arena.
One thing the council will be voting on is to approve the creation of a joint public agency between the city and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
With the joint public agency, the two entities would share ownership of the arena.
The agency would consist of one University of Nebraska regent, the mayor and a city council member, said Dan Marvin, the city's arena coordinator.
Along with that, the council will look at approving an agreement between UNL and the city that would allow the university to be the primary tenant of the 16,000-seat arena during basketball season.
Under the agreement, the NU Athletic Department would pay $750,000 in annual rent and lease the arena for 30 years, starting in 2013.
Nancy Kenny, chief financial officer for the Athletic Department, said the cost of rent "was just a number considered fair by both parties," as the Huskers would be the main tenant for a chunk of the year.
Both the men's and women's basketball teams would play a minimum of 15 games in the arena each year.
The teams usually play about 17 to 19 home games each year, Kenny said.
Also with the agreement, UNL would own four suites in the arena year-round.
The university asked for those suites so the athletic director and chancellor, or any other UNL officials, could use them for business purposes, Kenny said.
The suites may also be used by the university's sponsors, and as the Athletic Department is 100 percent self-sufficient, Kenny said, that would be helpful.
Besides the agreement between UNL and the city, the city council will also be deciding on whether Lincolnites will vote May 11 on a $25 million bond issue, Marvin said.
That would cover about 6 percent of the $340 million project.
The priciest part of the project is, of course, the actual arena, which is expected to cost $168 million, Marvin said.
Other costs associated include $29 million for constructing roads, $35 million to construct parking facilities and $49 million to move the railroad tracks that are currently in the proposed area location.
Despite the high costs, and even though the city is still feeling the effects of the recession, now is the perfect time for this project, Marvin said.
The project would instantly create construction jobs, interest rates are low and the price of construction materials are low now, he said.
Late last year, the Daily Nebraskan reported Marvin said he was receiving a mixed reaction from the public.
"The tone perhaps has changed because people have become more comfortable with it," he said Friday.
Kenny said the university is excited over the possibility of the arena.
"This would be a really good project," Kenny said.
"This would be a good way for the university to partner with the city."
katiesteiner@dailynebraskan.com
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