Construction is officially underway on a major community project in Lincoln as the Cultural Centers of Lincoln Collaborative breaks ground this week on its new multi-organizational facility. The development, located at 21st and Vine streets, is slated for completion by 2027 and will house four cornerstone cultural and community service initiatives under one roof.
The new site will bring together:
Tom Randa, executive director of the Good Neighbor Community Center, said the groundbreaking represents a long-awaited milestone.
“It's been years and years of planning, lots of partnerships involved, and we have formed a lot of great partnerships,” Randa said. “I'm excited because more people are aware about what the cultural centers are doing in Lincoln, and more importantly is the fact that we are finally getting facilities that are meeting the needs for those that we serve in our community.”
Each organization will bring key programming to the site. The Good Neighbor Community Center plans to relocate its food distribution program to the new campus while continuing to use its current facility. The Malone Center will transfer its early childhood program. For El Centro de las Américas and the Asian Community and Cultural Center, this will be their first permanent home.
Randa emphasized that the space will go far beyond essential services.
“The way we look at it is that the Cultural Centers of Lincoln building is not just a building for those who are coming for needs. We are also trying to connect our neighbors,” he said. “You don't have to be in need to come and visit the culture center. You can come and just experience the culture.”
The facility will also include:
The project sits on the former Cushman golf cart manufacturing property, owned by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and being redeveloped by WRK and Woodbury Corporation.
Greg Frayser, chief operating officer and general counsel for WRK, said the transformation of the once industrial site is part of a broader vision for community renewal.
“We've taken this place that was concrete and had some pollution issues, and we mitigated the pollution, and we removed the concrete, and we made it a space where there's 16 acres that people can live and work and do their grocery shopping and enjoy both the development that we've created, and also enjoy where it's located because it's connected to the community around it,” Frayser said.
Planned for the development are additional amenities such as housing, retail and a grocery store. The cultural center, Frayser said, was always considered essential.
“The cultural center is an important piece because… having a group of cultural initiatives in our city come together and pool their resources to really make one plus one equal five is something that we love and we want to be a part of,” he added.
The total project cost is estimated at $24 million, and the collaborative has already secured roughly 70% of the funding. Randa said the final stretch will depend on support from the broader community.
“There are some people who may wonder what is happening over there, and we are telling them, come check it out,” Randa said. “If it's something that you feel that you can support us with, we would definitely appreciate all the support that we can get — financial support, moral support, and even coming to our current centers because we are still not moved over there. We are still operating every day, so there's still needs at the individual centers that are going on.”
The collaborative views the development not only as a service hub but as a shared gathering place meant to foster inclusivity, cultural awareness and long-term community connection.
Originally reported by Jolie Peal in Nebraska Public Media.
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