Background The possibility of a new downtown arena to host Nebraska's basketball teams and serve as the anchor of a redevelopment of the
Haymarket District was noted years prior to Pinnacle Bank Arena's September 2011 groundbreaking. The
Pershing Center, then the largest entertainment venue in Lincoln, had a listed capacity of just 4,526 and was considered inadequate to meet the logistical demands of modern concerts. In 2007, the City of Lincoln completed a study of five potential sites for a 12,000-seat, $50 million arena and identified its preferred location in the West Haymarket near the Lincoln Main Post Office, approximately a quarter-mile southwest of the
University of Nebraska–Lincoln's City Campus. was Lincoln's largest entertainment venue prior to the construction of Pinnacle Bank Arena The project's momentum slowed during the
2008 financial crisis, but reemerged on a larger scale when renderings of a $200 million to $300 million complex were released. These included a potential
naming rights agreement and the university's rent payments to host basketball games, but the most significant was a "turn back" occupation tax, which was initially estimated to run through 2045 and includes a two-percent tax on restaurants and bars and a four-percent tax on hotels and rental cars.
Construction In August 2011, Lincoln-based Hampton Construction and
Minneapolis-based Mortenson Construction began concrete and foundation work for the arena and nearby parking garages. The $63 million price tag for this work, which included structural steel and roofing material, represented over forty percent of the arena's initially planned $150 million construction cost. Development of the arena was made difficult given the space constraints of the site, between two railway lines which could not be relocated until after construction was scheduled to begin. The arena was therefore constructed "inside out" with interior concrete work largely performed prior to the erection of the steel superstructure, which was assembled as more of the site became available. Approximately $50 million was spent to reroute the railroad tracks, construct a
new railway station (the original station, the
Burlington Northern Railroad Depot, was converted into an antique mall), and remove any fuel-contaminated soil. Upon completion, the 470,000-square-foot building had a listed arena capacity of 15,500 in its standard configuration, with thirty-six executive suites, twenty loge boxes, 832 club seats, two private club lounges, seventy-three concession areas, and a Huskers Authentic team store. The first event at the arena was the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's summer commencement ceremony on August 16, 2013, though PBA did not host its official "grand opening" event until the following month. ==Basketball==