The city Omaha has found several ways to salvage and reuse materials from the Gene Leahy Mall in other city parks.
A sustainability expert from HDR says these efforts help limit the overall waste of a major construction project and benefit the environment. "When we're handling such big volumes of materials it doesn't take that much effort to segregate them and then finding homes for them,” said Marcella Thompson, Sustainability Director at HDR.
Parks Director Brook Bench tells 6 News the limestone is being used as seats for 300 people at the Hummel Park amphitheatre. The smoother limestone replaces the wood planks and cinder blocks. “We've also done a big job at Levi Carter Park with the limestone. We're Incorporating into the Brown Park master plan,” Bench says. “We're going to building an amphitheater at Brown Park and we'll be using it down there."
Brick is also being salvaged from the Leahy Mall site. So far 800 hours of labor have gone into saving it. For fans of the park’s slide, it’s still sticking around, as is the archway, orange lights, and a statue.
Construction at the Gene Leahy Mall is pegged to be done in 2021. The entire $300 million Riverfront Revitalization Project is expected to be completed by 2023.