The 11th Street entrance to the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s arts corridor is getting a facelift.
The deferred maintenance project — located between the Lied Center for Performing Arts and Westbrook Music Building — is the first major upgrade to the space since the Lied’s opening in 1990. It is also part of campus entrance enhancements outlined in the UNL master plan.
“Right now, that entrance reads as a service area,” said Emily Casper, campus landscape architect and assistant director of landscape services. “It will continue to serve those needs. However, this project is designed to open up the space, make it more inviting to pedestrians and enhance areas of interaction outside nearby performance and arts venues.”
The area serves as an entrance to the Lied Center for Performing Arts, the recently upgraded Johnny Carson Theater, Glenn Korff School of Music, Kimball Hall and the sculpture garden around the Sheldon Museum of Art.
The project will create a pedestrian-friendly, split-level patio immediately north of the Lied Center dock area, near entrances to the Carson Theater and Westbrook Music Building. Along with new plantings, the project will add a seating area by the patio, a screen to hide the nearby service area and improved lighting.
Other elements include a redesigned wheelchair ramp and reconfiguration of the roadway that flows from parking areas near 10th and Q streets.
“To slow traffic through the area, we will convert the existing diagonal drive to a 90-degree turn,” Casper said. “When complete, the area will continue to serve as a service area for the Lied Center and other performance venues. However, these improvements will make the area more pedestrian friendly.
The project is scheduled to open to regular campus traffic flow in late August, prior to the start of the fall semester. Other elements of the project, including screens for the service area, will be put into place in September.
Other campus entrance enhancements completed through the UNL master plan include 14th and R streets on City Campus and the East Campus Mall.
