Demolition crew begins razing Pershing Auditorium in downtown Lincoln

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Once a beloved venue, the Pershing Auditorium held concerts, basketball games, graduations and even circuses over its 67 years of use.

Now, after being shut down for nearly 10 years and replaced by the Pinnacle Bank Arena as the city’s event center, it’s being demolished.

The building at M Street and Centennial Mall has had fencing and trespassing warnings up for some time now.

But this week, crews with National Concrete Cutting out of Council Bluffs began taking down the auditorium from the inside out.

Tyler Koch, a project manager, said they’re removing drywall, insulation, plaster, trash and anything else that can’t be reused.

“Right now, we’re separating different materials, kind of working on the face of the building,” he said. “Trying to separate, make sure nothing’s getting mixed together as we’re taking stuff off site here.”

The north wall has already been partially torn down.

Koch said the larger structure will start coming down next week, as crews keep chipping away at the inside with excavators.

The building should be torn down by October.

“What you’re seeing now is pretty much what we’ll get the next few weeks, with trucks rolling in and out, the machines loading trucks up and things like that,” Koch said.

Last year, the historic mural on the side of the building was relocated after over $800,000 was raised to save it.

The mural was removed and transported to Wyuka Cemetery.

“You know, it’s tough because there is so much history to this,” Koch said. “It’s been closed down since 2014, so it’s unfortunate that wasn’t able to be taken over by anything else.”

He said they’re just happy to be in Lincoln contributing to something so big for the city.

Once the building is gone, developers are proposing a 100-unit affordable housing complex.

The plan also includes a wellness center, child care facility, commons area, green space and underground parking.

That new complex is being developed by the White Lotus Group from Omaha and is expected to cost about $54 million.

The city is also considering a public library as part of that development.