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(Omaha, NE) -- Creighton University is seeking official approval on plans to relocate its on-campus baseball and softball complex. Right now, it sits in the middle of the north downtown campus. But this proposal would move them to a corridor between Burt and Cumming Sts. The university is seeking Omaha City Council approval to vacate a right-of-way on Burt St. from Florence Blvd. to 20th St.
Derek Scott works at Creighton, and spoke before the council Tuesday.
"Our goal is to move our softball and baseball fields out of the center of campus, put a five-acre central quadrangle in the middle of campus," Scott says. "And then bring our softball complex, baseball practice field/intramural field combo, and then the CWS practice field out to that Burt St./Cumming St. frontage."
The proposal is one of many to change the way the northern part of downtown looks. For some existing businesses, that's been a headache. That includes Julie Prescott Burgess, whose family owns property in the 1700 block of Cumming St. But she says the way Creighton has handled this proposal has been refreshing.
"My family has just marked 90 years of business [there]," Prescott Burgess says. "And for the first time in a long time, we feel like we've got another 90 years ahead of us in that spot...We feel like the folks up at Creighton listened to our pleas for survival."
If approved, The plan would begin following the 2025 College World Series.
"We have to have a field practicable by CWS of '26," Scott says. "I don't have much hair to lose, but there's not a lot of time to get it all done."
The Omaha City Council officially votes on the rezoning next week.