By Avarie Howard, Reporter
Omaha, NE – Aksarben Village has seen exponential amounts of growth in the last year. It all started two years ago when the Inner Rail Food Hall opened its doors. This new trend has appeared in major cities, like Chicago, Kansas City, New York City and now Omaha.
These halls have popped up in young urban areas that don’t want to be seen as mall food courts but as the main central point of entertainment and a place to meet. The food hall is placed between the HDR headquarters building and the parking garage behind it.
The expansion of Aksarben Village has now evolved into a full entertainment center in the last eight months. Many new businesses have opened their doors in the area including the LuluLemon Pop-up, Powerlife Yoga, and Chlorophyll.
There has also been the addition of physical activities and open spaces for many other events like sand volleyball, bags, workout classes on the turf, and most recently live music.
The first addition was the Bark Park that didn’t just invite people to come hang out, but their dogs too. The park saw so many visitors and regulars that within the following two months they expanded the park to an even bigger space.
The dog park has now created its own community within an already bigger one.
Ian Aeillo, a dog owner and local resident, takes his puppy Bowie to the dog park every day.
“We come every day. We come every day and we have for the last few weeks…We have met people who live near us that we have never met before, that now we are friends with. There are people now when I come it’s, “Hey Jan, how are you?” said Aeillo.
Over the summer, Sonny’s and Zone 6 were incorporated into the area. Sonny’s is the silver airstream that sits across the street from Scott Crossing’s dorms on UNO’s campus. They serve drinks, snacks, and complimentary fresh popcorn to those who come to hang-out or listen to live music on Sunday’s, Tuesday’s, Thursday’s and Friday’s, which is what locals hope to have more of in the future. Aeillo said he hopes to see more live music and local acts in the future.
“This is what midtown should be like,” Aeillo said.
When the expansion of Aksarben Village first started some locals and nearby citizens were nervous it was going to turn into another corporate park. Aeillo added that the dog park has been one of the best things because it has brought together an even more diverse group of people and has created even more of a community.
