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Room, with a view "I don't think we really understood exactly how valuable that spot would be until it became a reality that we were going to have a building and we could start talking about where it could be located," Pol says. "Then and only then, at least from the college's perspective, did we start thinking seriously about the other opportunities." The future sits on some grass and part of a pre-existing parking lot at 67th and Pine Streets just south of the Peter Kiewit Institute — not far from where the famed Aksarben racetrack once stood. It will be named Mammel Hall in honor of Omahans Carl and Joyce Mammel, longtime CBA supporters and lead donors for the $38.5 million project — $31 million for building construction and $7.5 million toward an endowment to enhance CBA programs and benefit students and faculty. The Mammels' exact commitment is undisclosed but has been cited as the largest single philanthropic gift to UNO in the university's 100-year history. Omahans Ruth and Bill Scott, have made a second significant gift toward the project. Both gifts were announced during a June 2 groundbreaking ceremony. Construction begins this summer and is expected to be completed in time for the 2010-11 school year. "I frankly believe that this is the most significant change that's occurred at UNO since the building at PKI," says Chancellor John Christensen. Wow factor It was around the time when the Peter Kiewit Institute opened in 1997 — UNO's first foray south of Pacific Street — that some of the limitations of Roskens Hall became more and more evident to CBA administrators. All those will be addressed when the three-story Mammel Hall joins PKI, the Scott Center, Scott Village residence halls, Aksarben Village and a hotel amid some of the most changing acres in Omaha. The new CBA building will be 120,000 square feet, an increase from 95,000 at Roskens Hall. Business no longer will share space with other colleges. A potential 10 to 15 percent spike in business students is considered possible from the current total of 2,500. It will handle all power needs, offer corroboration space and have room to entertain. And, Pol adds: "It won't be just space and it won't be just technology. There's going to be a fair amount of 'wow factor' in this, too." An atrium will rise nearly five stories high and dominate the main entrance. A ticker board will be visible to the investment science lab and to those who enter the building. There will be a virtual stock market trading room and laboratories devoted to computers, statistics, real estate and business innovation. A "first-rate" 24- to 30-person corporate-style boardroom will be available to the business college, other UNO groups and outsiders. Offices will be available for the Nebraska Business Development Center, currently housed off campus. Pol says Mammel Hall also will offer the chance for the business college to hold receptions or host speakers. Such facilities are expected to advance new or proposed programs in innovation and entrepreneurship, information assurance/business security, risk management and investment science, international business programs, real estate research and transportation science. Just about everything was done with an emphasis on encouraging students to stay around, giving them places to work by themselves, with each other or with staff. Dave Nielsen, director of the College of Business Administration, says input was sought from just about everybody who would be using the building. "I will say it's probably the most collaborative process I have ever been involved in," Nielsen says. "If the building's not right, it's our fault. They made the point that when they hand over the keys, we have to live with it. "It'll be 180 degrees opposite of this building in some ways. Where it was hard to find space before, you just have to look right or look left for it. And it'll be a much more open environment. We're cinder-block walls here, and it's hard to see through those." Those cinder-block walls will stay put on the UNO campus and Roskens Hall will retain its name, an honor to Ron Roskens, UNO chancellor from 1972 through 1977, and his wife, Lois. Roskens Hall will become the new home of the College of Education, currently housed in Kayser Hall. Kayser will be used to satisfy various needs for space. Everybody benefits, says Christensen. "Capacity has been a real issue, not just for the College of Business but for the entire campus," Christensen says. "We grew for about 10 years and that leveled off a few years ago. If we have more capacity, I believe we'll continue to grow." CBA has occupied Roskens Hall since 1975. Discussions have come and gone during the past decade about a new CBA building. Pol says they could be traced to former Chancellor Nancy Belck's vision in the late 1990s. Pol always believed it would be on this plot of land or nearby space. In the meantime, CBA had to sweat the possibilities of the land being used differently for another UNO academic enterprise or by a commercial entity. So people like David Volkman, the finance department chair, always hesitated to get too excited until they saw something more concrete. "We'd been down this path before," Volkman says. "We've cried wolf a couple times before." But Christensen says he considered it one of UNO's top three capital improvement priorities when he took over for Belck. Dreams became reality once Mammel made his pledge and the Board of Regents approved the project in March. Lead donors Pol says Mammel's role in all of this wasn't totally surprising, even though he isn't a UNO graduate. The couple provided a gift in 1998 that turned into the Mammel Student and Faculty Excellence Fund for CBA students and the Faculty-in-Residence Program for professors. The scholarships have totaled $500,000 for 107 students, providing them an opportunity for hands-on experience with local businesses during the summer. The Faculty-in-Residence Program has totaled $240,000 for 24 professors, local businesses matching the contribution. Pol says UNO maintained a relationship with the Mammels and kept them connected to students. Their own trips into Roskens Hall helped them realize the business college's limitations. "It's not like it fell from the sky, but I feel like it fell from the sky because we never had a conversation where he said, 'Well, what do you need?'" Pol says. "I think he just figured it out." The Mammels have stayed out of the spotlight through most of the process. Carl, a member of the University of Nebraska Foundation board of directors, declined an interview request. He was introduced at the June 2 ceremony but commented only in a university release attributed to him and his wife. "During the last 10 years we have observed the achievements of the students and have become aware of the effective leadership of the college," said the Mammels. "It also convinced us of the needs of the business college for improved facilities. "We are pleased to help fund the completion of this new hall and believe it will greatly benefit both the students and the business community." At the start Roskens Hall has helped anchor the northeast edge of campus since a boom in the 1970s that included five new buildings totaling $20 million in construction costs. The CBA building made its way onto campus under protest, according to "A History of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, 1908-1983," written by UNO History Professor Tommy Thompson. With few alternate sites available, it was put on the lawn in front of Arts and Sciences Hall. That meant some elm trees lining the sidewalks had to be sacrificed. University officials argued that the trees were diseased and would need to be removed anyway. But the courtyard that was supposed to go on its south side landed to the east — and never was quite utilized. Its narrow hallways created between-class traffic jams that could not be alleviated without other places for students to gather. It's been a while, Pol says, since the building has been what it's needed to be for the department. "It really began, I would argue, in the late '80s, early '90s, and that's odd because that made it only 15 years old in 1990," Pol says. "But part of what happened with a lot of buildings is that people were having to retrofit communications technology. We had our IT staff in these duct works and everywhere else to try and wire the building." Says Nielsen, who was a UNO business student in the early 1990s: "When this building was built, what we have now for technology was not envisioned." Yet the College continued to advance and to build a respected status. That only stands to grow when it finds itself with new accommodations two years from now. "We have such a great program here, but we're like the hidden secret," Nielsen says. "You can almost say that about UNO itself. Having a building that will be state-of-the-art for the business program, that people write stories about, that brings attention, and that will open eyes to, 'Wow, that's what they're doing there?' It's just hard to get people as excited about remodels." Pol says a university wants prospective students to be impressed first with a program. But programs are not independent of a facility, and soon CBA can be equally proud showing off both. Holland Basham Architects of Omaha has been hired to construct Mammel Hall with help from Gensler, a leading global design, planning and strategic consulting firm. "You want a learning environment that draws you in and makes you want to seek out space within that building to work as teams, to study independently, to go to laboratories, to go to visit with faculty members and staff people," Pol says. "You want to have that environment and that's what we're trying to create. And I think we will." Good neighbors Environment will be everything on the Pacific Street Campus. Volkman says he was more excited about the new building's location than the building itself. "Right across the street you have Aksarben Village — movie theatre, restaurants, clothing stores," Volkman says. "It's going to be so exciting to have a college where students or faculty walk out and walk down to a Starbucks just down the street. We're going to be moving further away from being like a commuter campus here and more to a real campus." Improved parking also accompanies the move. A conference center won't be part of the new building, but UNO's Scott Conference Center is just a short walk away and visitors can be put up at a Courtyard by Marriott hotel, scheduled to open this summer about 100 yards away. Pol says the business college won't hesitate to form partnerships with any or all of its new neighbors. Also predicted for the future is a stronger presence in the building from local employers. The west end of the first floor will be an area devoted to advising, student clubs and organizations and career services. "For example, we can have Union Pacific or First National Bank come in and spend a day there and the students will know they're there," Pol says. Leaving one place for another is never without its sentimental moments. Pol won't be able to look out his window and see Dodge Street traffic and Memorial Park. The whole CBA operation will be blocks away from its longtime headquarters. But views and visions change. "I think people will get over it pretty quickly," Christensen says. "This is really a transformational time for UNO. People tend not to look back on these things, but look forward."
Source - By Rich Kaipust - Alum Magazine
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