Suggested Event
Jun 15, 2021 to Jun 17, 2021
Most Nebraskans are familiar with our unique state Capitol building in Lincoln, which was designed by New York architect Bertram Goodhue and built in four phases over 10 years. It was completed in 1932.
What few residents probably know is that in 1922, just as Capitol construction was beginning, Goodhue also proposed a seven-block, wide avenue to create a beautiful north entrance to the new Capitol building.
By 1937, Lincoln city leaders, along with state officials, designated 120 feet of right of way reaching from the Capitol steps north to the University of Nebraska city campus.
Although a commission was assigned development of this new mall area, nothing happened until the state’s centennial celebration in 1967. Centennial Mall was born, with a series of fountains stretching to the Capitol on the south end and the Nebraska State Historical Society headquarters on the north end.