Here's something Mike Fahey and Hal Daub can agree on: the Rev. John Schlegel has made Omaha a better place during his time as president of Creighton University.
The two former mayors and political combatants ought to know. They headed Omaha city government during most of Schlegel's tenure, a time in which city and Creighton officials worked closely on the university's growth and downtown redevelopment.
“He has left a big footprint in the history of Omaha,” Fahey said Wednesday, after Schlegel announced that he will resign in a year. “The expansion that he has created will have an enduring impact not just for Creighton, but for the whole city of Omaha.”
Daub, who used to jokingly greet the CU president as “Mayor Schlegel,” said Schlegel “must be recorded in our great history as one of our most successful builders of this community.”
Schlegel had been in office but two months when he unveiled a plan in November 2000 to expand the Creighton campus from 20th Street to 17th Street between Cass and Cuming.
Creighton needed more space. The city was about to build an arena and convention center.
Nearly 10 years and hundreds of millions of dollars later, Creighton's leaders have completed much of that vision, erecting buildings that include townhouse-style student residences, Morrison Stadium, the Ryan Athletic Center, D.J. Sokol Arena and the Mike and Josie Harper Center for student life.
But it's not just that they did it — it's how they did it, said observers and people who have worked closely with Schlegel.
Architecturally and in its layout, the expansion has an urban, open look and feel that invites interaction with the city around it, said Marty Shukert, a former Omaha planning director.
That includes being open to, and involved with, north Omaha, said Ken Johnson, economic development manager for the City Planning Department.
He was surprised and disappointed to learn Wednesday of Schlegel's plan to retire.
“Father Schlegel has set the tone,” said Johnson, who volunteered on an advisory board to Schlegel and has worked closely on technical details of Creighton and north Omaha redevelopment. “He has told his managers this is our philosophy. We're going to show that we're a vital, committed part of this community, and we are in north Omaha.”
As an example, Johnson pointed to Modern Equipment, a major employer of north Omaha residents that owned much of the land Creighton needed for expansion.
Modern Equipment officials wouldn't agree to sell and move unless they could remain in north Omaha, Johnson said. It was expensive, but Creighton agreed to pay to move the company near Eppley Airfield, with easy bus access for workers, Johnson said.
It's not just buildings, and it's not just north Omaha, Johnson said, citing health clinics in Dundee and South Omaha. And he said Creighton's volunteer work has grown under Schlegel.
Bob Bartee, vice chancellor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, said Schlegel made Creighton a key partner in Destination Midtown from its beginning. Like UNMC officials, Schlegel believes Creighton has a direct interest in building up its neighborhood, Bartee said.
Creighton was at a key point in its history when Schlegel arrived, said Lyn Wallin Ziegenbein, executive director of the Peter Kiewit Foundation and a Creighton alumna. She said he pushed it to another level academically and financially, and did more to empower and recognize women along the way.
“With Father Schlegel, we caught lightning in a bottle,” Ziegenbein said. “He was the right man in the right place at the right time.”
Contact the writer:
444-1057, christopher.burbach@owh.com
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