Students have a deciding role the future of Crossroads Mall

The disappearance of the Crossroads Mall as we have known it is inevitable. The future of the location is the subject of discussions among city planners, private organizations, and Omaha communities. There is even a Facebook group with the mission to turn Crossroads into an entertainment neighborhood similar to Kansas City's Power and Light District, and they've almost got 6,000 fans.While this would be a lot of fun, especially considering its nearness to UNO, there is a good chance the final product will be a cookie-cutter development that will serve the interests of one or two businesses - right now those would be Sears and Target. Target owns their land, so at least they'll be sticking around. The reality of a Power and Light District is a long shot, since Target executives would likely vote against being attached to a huge, enclosed party kingdom.

The Simon Group, who recently put Crossroads up for sale, had been waiting for an anchor store to come along and revitalize consumer interest in the property. The potential for this, however, seems slim as businesses fled the mall en masse. Note to the community: if the Simon Group, one of the few mall development businesses that hasn't gone bankrupt, can't sell anything out of Crossroads, another shopping center is not what we need.

As students at UNO, it may seem impossible that we could ever influence the direction of Crossroads Mall. But, on their leasing advertisements, the Simon Group used their proximity to the University as a prime selling point to incoming businesses. This gives students a bit of leverage when it comes to suggesting possible uses for the mall property.

A Power and Light District-esque venue would be a great contrast to the impersonal, indoor/outdoor mall/lifestyle villages that have been popping up around Omaha. Unfortunately, a lot of prospective planners for the Crossroads area have a model in mind similar to Mutual of Omaha's Midtown Crossing and the Village Pointe shopping center. Since the community has voted with their wallets to not support most shopping opportunities at Crossroads, the businesses that would blossom in a lifestyle community would serve only the residents. Sure, there might be a quaint coffee shop, but there would likely be twice as many tanning salons and fitness centers for all the sexy, young professionals.

A big problem with these sorts of developments is that they carry a high financial premium for all of their services. If you haven't had a chance to visit the new Marcus Theaters location at the Midtown Crossing development, don't. Save your money, rent a movie, and discover the experience of watching a movie and eating at the same time, all from the comfort of your own home.

The Crossroads Mall, because of its popular past, is labeled one of the significant community centers of Omaha, however it sure doesn't look that way these days. The worst thing we could do with the property is continue to dilute its commercial value to the lowest-common denominator of insta-communities.

A Power and Light District scenario would give back to the community. A large population of bars and restaurants would hopefully keep prices low and competitive to cater to college-level spending habits. The inclusion of live music venues, both indoor and outdoor, would be a great place to hang out and would no doubt have shows playing daily. An outdoor amphitheater, open to the public, would be ideal, and would really become a central aspect of the community.

No matter what ends up happening there, keep in mind that we, the students, could come together and develop our own vision of what is to become of the space. Mayor Suttle and many planning and development groups have called upon the Omaha community to give input on what they'd like to see happen at Crossroads. If no one speaks up about it, what was once a thriving community center could become just another impersonal blip on the suburban radar.