Month: June 2022

Omaha Interview: Omaha Mayor, Jean Stothert, on Renovated Gene Leahy Mall

This is reprinted from a previous post.

It’s been wonderful to watch all these things grow and develop and now Gene Leahy Mall is getting its refresh. Can you tell us a little about what is coming up please?

Sure, there’s 90 acres of city owned property. It’s the Gene Leahy Mall. Go east Heartland of America Park and then you go north to Lewis and Clark Park Landing. That whole area. We are working in cooperation with the private sector. And when it’s all done, it’s going to be about a $400 million project and the city put in $50 million and the rest is private. And so that just really shows that the good public private partnerships that we have in Omaha and the investment that is going on in Omaha right now.

The Gene Leahy Mall will open the first of July, and it’s fantastic. We’ve raised it up to the street level so it’s usable. It’s usable for events. The old mall was pretty, but you couldn’t use it for anything. I think when people get in it, they are going to love it.

I toured it the other day and it’s gorgeous. It has something for everybody. And then it will go on down to Heartland of America Park which will connect us right to the river. That’s our most important geographic feature we have. We live on the river, so that park will go all the way down to the river and then north to Lewis and Clark Landing where a beautiful new STEM museum will be down there that Kiewit is the major funder. That portion of it, Heartland and Lewis and Clark Landing, should be open by August of next year. So everything is moving along. They are right on schedule. They’re keeping it within budget. And it will be done. And it’s going to just spur development downtown and it already has. With Mutual of Omaha coming downtown now and there’s a new hotel in the Landmark. There’s a lot of other investors looking at downtown because of what we are building downtown. We are pretty much building a new downtown.

It looks so different, but then a lot of the favorite features are still there.

Yes.

Everyone is so happy that you kept the arch and the slides.

Oh, yeah. Yeah, we wanted to incorporate everything in there and it will remain the Gene Leahy Mall.

Thank you.

Full interview, which includes the CWS, is located here:
https://www.omahanebraska.com/blog/omaha-interview-college-world-series-pre-game-press-conference-omaha-mayor/

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium Reopens Lee G. Simmons Aviary at Zoo and Bird Exhibits at Wildlife Safari Park

From our friends at the zoo:

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For Immediate Release
Contact: Diane Kohout (402) 738-2015
Zoo Public Relations (402) 980-9285

Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium Reopens
Lee G. Simmons Aviary at Zoo and Bird Exhibits at Wildlife Safari Park

Omaha, Neb. (June 24, 2022) – The Lee G. Simmons Aviary at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium is open to guests today, Friday, June 24, after being closed since March 3, 2022, due to concerns regarding the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) virus. The birds who live at the Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari Park have also returned to their outside habitats.

“The Avian Influenza virus has affected birds all over the country, including millions of chickens in Nebraska and Iowa alone. It was incredibly important that Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium make changes to protect our birds from getting infected with Avian influenza,” said Dr. Sarah Woodhouse, Director of Animal Health for Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. “We are very happy to report that 100 percent of our birds stayed healthy. With the help of Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, we were able to test samples from the wild Canada geese on Zoo grounds, all of which were negative. We feel confident that it is safe to return the birds to their outdoor spaces.”

“We normally start putting birds out in batches of 20 to 30 in late April and finish by about Mother’s Day weekend, which gives the birds cool nights and light guest traffic during week to acclimate,” said Bob Lastovica, Supervisor of Birds for Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium. “This time, we used the flamingo building to hold over 80 birds over three nights, which allowed them to take their time leaving the building.” Lastovica continued, “We moved 215 birds into the Aviary over 4 days, plus cranes, storks and pelicans back to their outside exhibits. They were all very excited to be back out on terra firma.”

“All of the Zoo’s employees had a role in protecting our birds, from the bird keepers themselves to the horticulture, facilities, and Education staff,” concluded Dr. Woodhouse, “I am so grateful to the entire Zoo team for their efforts, and we are all excited to welcome guests back to the Zoo and Wildlife Safari Park to bird watch.”

Aside from the birds returning to the Aviary at the Zoo and Aquarium, including the flamingos, the Dick and Mary Holland Meadowlark Theater has resumed programming, the Budgie Encounter in the Bay Family Children’s Adventure Trails is open, and the peacocks are again wondering Zoo grounds. The American white pelicans in the Pelican Wetlands, the sandhill

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cranes and trumpeter swans in Crane Meadows and the chickens at the Hands-on Corral have also returned to their outside areas at the Wildlife Safari Park. The Eagle Aviary is open and the whooping cranes are also outside.

Consistently ranked as one of the world’s top zoos, Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium is an independent not-for-profit organization accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The Zoo is recognized nationally for its conservation, animal care and exhibit design. As a leader in conservation, the Zoo’s Center for Conservation and Research focuses on areas to benefit animal husbandry and species conservation including conservation genetics, conservation medicine, reproductive sciences, and comparative nutrition. More information is available at www.OmahaZoo.com.

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