KEARNEY – As they celebrated another “milestone day” for the University of Nebraska at Kearney, Charlie Bicak and Doug Kristensen were reminded of those “back-of-the-napkin” conversations they had more than a decade ago.
The University Village development was still a cornfield then, and the two men often talked about their vision for the property.
Most of those discussions started the same way: Wouldn’t it be great if … there was a space for community groups and organizations to come together; a place where nonprofits and educators can host workshops and seminars; a building that promotes collaboration among private businesses and the university.
“We no longer need to wish or do the what-ifs,” Bicak said Thursday during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Regional Engagement Center. “Our dreams became reality and, in fact, I think this facility exceeded our greatest expectations.”
About 200 people joined the current and former UNK chancellors as they dedicated the 52,000-square-foot building that will serve as a focal point for University Village.
Kristensen, who led the university for 22 years before retiring in May, called the event a “turning point in the development and maturation of University Village.”
“Yes, this is a celebration about today,” he said. “But what I’m really excited about is what tomorrow will bring. What’s going to happen here in the next week, the next year, the next five years?”
“This building is going to help us attract better tenants into University Village. It’s going to attract people who are innovative. It’s going to give us the opportunity to do things that people in Kearney had no idea could be possible,” he added.
Located just south of U.S. Highway 30, the Regional Engagement Center was built with collaboration and flexibility in mind. It features upscale, technology-rich office and meeting spaces that will connect people, businesses and organizations from across the state while enhancing the university’s academic activities.
“We wanted to do something that would strengthen the campus and the academic mission, but also benefit the city of Kearney and benefit all of rural Nebraska,” Kristensen noted.
Each conference room was designed for different purposes – from large banquets, regional meetings, community events and town halls to smaller training sessions and workshops that support workforce development and continuing education.
Staff from the UNK Alumni Association and University of Nebraska Foundation, Nebraska Extension and University Village operations are all located there, allowing them to “be where the action is.”
“We feel like being here helps us raise the bar for the University of Nebraska at Kearney,” said Lucas Dart, vice president of UNK alumni relations and development for the University of Nebraska Foundation.
UNK partnered with Woodbury Corporation, a Salt Lake City-based real estate development and management company, on the $15.6 million project. Currently, Chief Industries, Allo Fiber, Olsson and Wilkins Architecture Design Planning are leasing space in the building as private tenants, strengthening their ties with UNK and its students.
Jeff Woodbury, senior vice president of development and acquisitions at Woodbury Corporation, said the project aligns perfectly with the company’s focus on community building and creating spaces where people come together to learn and share ideas.
“It has welcoming spaces that will benefit students, teachers, residents and local businesses,” he said. “It will be a place where ideas can be shared and developed. It will be a place where true public-private partnerships can be created. It will be a place where the residents of Kearney and surrounding communities can come and engage with the university and its leaders.”
University of Nebraska System President Dr. Jeff Gold also lauded this collaboration between public and private entities.
“Projects such as this Engagement Center represent the very best of public-private partnerships, bringing the public sector, our Legislature and Governor’s Office and our federal delegation together with large and small businesses and the university to do things that could never be done separately,” he said. “Things that will transform the community and set a marker for the future of the state.”
An urban development within a rural community, University Village combines educational, residential, commercial and recreational opportunities to create a vibrant neighborhood that connects the university and city while serving the entire state. The 104-acre site also includes the Element 30 housing project, Ernest Grundy Tennis Center, Plambeck Early Childhood Education Center and UNK’s Village Flats apartments, along with the Nebraska Medicine cancer center that’s expected to open in December.
Bicak, a longtime UNK administrator and interim chancellor since June 1, pointed to the Regional Engagement Center and University Village as “genuine proof of concept” that these partnerships work.
“Kearney is truly becoming a national leader in serving rural Nebraska, the Great Plains and even the nation by example and model,” he said.
“We envisioned this building as a connector to advance collective conversations around being regional. And our region goes beyond greater Nebraska. It’s the entire Midwest. It’s the Great Plains.”
“Nobody else is doing this,” Kristensen added in his speech. “And before somebody else copies us, we need to take advantage of this, and that’s the great opportunity that’s here for the next few years.”
