Separated by the Missouri River, Omaha, Neb., and Council Bluffs, Iowa, complement each other while offering their own distinctive attributes, forming an inviting metro area in the heartland. These evolving twin cities are benefiting from primary meeting venues that have come on-line in the past few years, elevating them in the meetings and conventions world.
Omaha continues to expand, its revitalization pushing north along the river, while Council Bluffs, also eyeing future development, adds to the diversity with its casinos and historic attractions.
Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska’s largest city, lies in the Missouri River Valley at the junction of interstates 29 and 80.
Dana Markel, executive director of the Omaha CVB, points to Omaha’s advantages for meetings: its location in the middle of the country; its airport just minutes from downtown; and its downtown convention center, Qwest Center Omaha.
“We’ve created a new downtown with development along the waterfront—a downtown that is alive in the evenings,” she says. “And what is exciting is that we are virtually building a new city. Now we’re moving north.”
She explains that $2 billion has been spent in recent years on downtown, with Qwest Center as the centerpiece, and now attention is being paid to North Downtown, known as NoDo, where another $1 billion will be spent. And new select-service hotels are already opening in NoDo within walking distance of the Qwest Center.
A development catalyst is the $22 million Missouri River pedestrian bridge project that will connect Omaha and Council Bluffs, slated to open by spring next year. Delegates will be able to walk out from the Qwest Center across to Council Bluffs.
The two cities are hoping that the spectacular 3,000-foot-long suspension bridge will become its symbol, like Seattle’s Space Needle and St. Louis’ Gateway Arch.
Plans also call for a new baseball stadium close to Qwest Center and a mixed-use development along the NoDo waterfront area with condo towers, a large plaza area, retail, and entertainment.
Of metro Omaha’s 10,000 hotel rooms, more than 2,000 are downtown, most within walking distance of Qwest Center, which features more than 250,000 square feet of exhibition and function space and a 17,000-seat arena.
Four miles north of downtown, Eppley Airport is served by nine major carriers, with nonstop flights to 17 of the country’s top 25 metro areas.
To the south of Qwest Center, delegates have the Old Market arts and entertainment district to explore—12 city blocks of restored brick warehouses with unique shops and boutique stores, 30 restaurants, 13 pubs and taverns, 10 art galleries, and horse and carriage rides.
Adjoining the district to the east is the 30-acre scenic riverfront Heartland of America Park, which serves up fountains and pathways, bike trails, tour boat rides, and free summer concerts.
Markel says the CVB targets groups of 1,500 to 2,000 people, which she says is a perfect size.
“We get national associations, and agricultural meetings have become stronger. We are pleased with our national base, the groups that rotate in the Midwest, West and East,” she says. “And after five years we are starting to see a high percentage of repeat business—conventions that want to return.”
She adds that the city also has a strong base of corporate business, noting that Omaha is home to five Fortune 500 companies, impressive for a city of around 400,000 people.
It is headquarters for Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, food giant ConAgra Foods, Union Pacific Railroad, and Mutual of Omaha. Among other major corporations that call Omaha home are The Gallup Organization, TD Ameritrade, infoUSA, and First National Bank.
The city is also making a name as a sports destination, and among the many upcoming events are the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which will be held at Qwest Center this summer, with two temporary Olympic-size pools being built for the event. In June, Omaha will be the site of the NCAA division one Men’s College World Series, which the city has hosted for 58 years. Other major sporting events are scheduled throughout the year.
Omaha has also increased its status as a performing arts center.
Downtown’s Holland Performing Arts Center, which was completed in 2005 and is home to the Omaha Symphony and touring organizations, includes a 2,000-seat concert hall, a 400-seat recital hall and an event garden that can handle groups of up to 1,000 people. Another off-site venue possibility is the 2,600-seat Orpheum Theater, which opened in 1927.
Meetings-equipped hotels include the AAA Four Diamond-rated Hilton Omaha. Connected by skywalk to Qwest Center, it has 30,000 square feet of meeting space.
Also within walking distance of the convention center are two major meetings hotels, Embassy Suites Hotel Omaha–Downtown/Old Market, with 12,500 square feet of meeting space, and the Doubletree Hotel & Executive Meeting Center Omaha–Downtown, with 35,000 square feet of space, including 7,000 square feet of IACC-certified space.
In addition to the Omaha Doubletree, Nebraska has one other IACC-certified property, the 144-room Lied Lodge and Conference Center, situated 45 minutes south of Omaha in Nebraska City. It features more than 14,000 square feet of function space and an Arnold Palmer-designed golf course.
Downtown Omaha also has its first boutique hotel—the 145-room Omaha Magnolia Hotel, with 6,000 square feet of meeting space. Denver-based Magnolia Hotels bought the former Sheraton Omaha in November 2006 and completed a $14 million renovation to convert it to its Magnolia brand last June.
Among the city’s other meetings hotels, Central Omaha has the Holiday Inn Omaha Hotel and Convention Center, with 61,000 square feet of meeting space and a new indoor waterpark, and the western part of the city has the Omaha Marriott and the Crowne Plaza Omaha Old Mill.
By the end of this year, another five hotels with a total of 594 rooms are expected to be added to downtown Omaha’s inventory, four of them in NoDo and all near Qwest Center.
“They are bringing something new to the area—select-service hotels—which means a greater variety of hotels,” Markel says.
In NoDo, a Homewood Suites and a Hampton Inn & Suites opened late last year, and a Holiday Inn & Suites and a Fairfield Inn are expected to open this spring. Additionally, a Residence Inn will open in the Old Market area this fall.
Among the other new properties are a Holiday Inn Express that opened in December at Cherry Hills in the northwest suburbs and a Courtyard by Marriott that is opening in Midtown this summer.
Last summer, NoDo saw the opening of the Saddle Creek complex, with off-site venue options in a new mixed-use development. It features the headquarters of Saddle Creek Records, an Omaha independent record label, which includes a 470-seat concert venue and bar, and the Ruth Sokolof Theater at Film Streams, an independent two-screen film theater.
Among the city’s top attractions is the Henry Doorly Zoo, which houses the world’s largest indoor rainforest, desert exhibits and an aquarium, as well as several event spaces.
The Joslyn Art Museum, with a renowned permanent collection of 19th and 20th century European and American art, can handle groups of up to 1,000. The museum plans to finish a major redevelopment in spring 2009.
Groups of up to 2,000 people can gather at the Strategic Air & Space Museum, which is located 20 miles west of downtown and features a 200-seat theater and two aircraft display hangars.
Additionally, the Durham Western Heritage Museum, housed in the former Art Deco Union Station, built in 1931, is also popular for off-site events and meetings.
Council Bluffs
Council Bluffs came by its name from a meeting with Native Americans of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. It had an earlier start than its big neighbor. Its entrepreneurs founded Omaha in 1854 after the passing of the Kansas-Nebraska Act.
Today it has about 58,000 of the metro area’s 800,000 people and 2,000 hotel rooms.
The new Missouri River pedestrian bridge will link Omaha with the Playland district in Council Bluffs, and Josee Beier, director of convention sales at the Council Bluffs CVB, also sees it as a catalyst for new development.
“It’s huge for us and will be a big draw,” she says. “It will be spectacular—400 feet above the river—and will enable the development of an entire area along the riverfront.”
The city’s plans for the area include a park and a riverfront drive.
Council Bluffs unveiled its Mid-America Center in 2003. It has an 8,000-seat multipurpose arena, 66,000 square feet of meeting and exhibit space, and 13,000 square feet of prefunction space. Located about two miles from the historic downtown, the center is connected to a 133-room Country Inn and Suites, and a 151-room Springhill Suites opened nearby last May, with 1,100 square feet of meeting space.
Also nearby is one of the city’s three casinos, Horseshoe Council Bluffs, featuring a greyhound track; the Plaza, a shopping and dining area; and the 2-year-old Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World, with meeting and event space that Beier says is ideal for groups.
Harrah’s rebranded the former Bluffs Run Casino with the Horseshoe name in 2006 following an $85 million renovation and expansion.
The other two casinos, both located along the river, provide major meetings hotels.
The 160-room Ameristar Casino & Hotel, a AAA Four Diamond property that includes Iowa’s largest riverboat casino, has a 5,000-square-foot ballroom. About one mile to the south is the 251-room Harrah’s Council Bluffs, which can seat 1,400 people and has 21,000 square feet of meeting space.
Close to the Ameristar are a 186-room Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites, with 7,980 square feet of meeting space, and a 98-room Hampton Inn.
Beier notes that each of the three hotels offers free 24-hour transportation within a five-mile radius, which includes downtown.
The Ameristar is planning a $100 million casino expansion that will double its size, adding an additional 60,000 square feet of gaming space. The project is slated for completion in the second half of 2009.
Harrah’s Entertainment is moving forward in a partnership with Kinseth Hospitality Group, with plans to build a 158-room Hilton Garden Inn with 3,000 square feet of meeting space adjacent to Horseshoe Council Bluffs Casino.
In addition to three of Iowa’s largest casinos, the city’s other big selling points are low taxes and free parking, according to Beier.
“We get regional associations, religious and educational groups, and our range is 200 to 500 people,” she says.
Another asset is a variety of attractions.
There is the Squirrel Cage Jail, which served as the Pottawattamie Country Jail from 1885 until 1969, and the Union Pacific Railroad Museum, housed in the former Carnegie Library, built in 1903.
The Historic General Dodge House has banquet space for 50 people, and the Commemorative Air Force Museum has banquet space for 300 guests.
Downtown Council Bluffs features Bayliss Park Hall, which dates to 1901 and features 8,000 square feet of meeting and event space. Last spring, the park completed a $4.8 million renovation. Among the many enhancements were new fountains and landscaping.
For More Info
Council Bluffs CVB 712.325.1000
www.councilbluffsiowa.com
Omaha CVB 402.444.4660
www.visitomaha.com
