Lincoln street renamed after former owner of Lincoln Zoo Bar

The stretch of 14th Street between O and P streets in Lincoln is now Boehmer Street, named after the former owner and talent promoter at the Zoo Bar, Larry Boehmer.

An announcement press conference was held Thursday in front of the Zoo Bar, where Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird announced the change.

“By naming the heart of Lincoln's music scene after him,” said Gaylor Baird, "we celebrate his influence in helping to build it, and we tell more of our Lincoln story to those who come here.”

Boehmer bartended, managed and owned the Zoo Bar, 136 N. 14th St., from 1977 until his retirement in 2000. He died in 2012.

Todd Ogden, president and CEO of the Downtown Lincoln Association, said without Boehmer, the area would be much different.

“This street exists because Larry Boehmer and Jim [Ludwig] brought in live music for Zoo bar, and here we are today,” said Ogden.

He also said much more is planned for the music district in the coming future.

“We’re going to have a speaker program all the way throughout Boehmer Street, so you're going to be hearing local music anytime you're walking down this street, which is really, really cool,” Ogden said. “So that's just one example of things we're going to continue to do to figure out how we can cultivate the music scene that exists.”

Boehmer was a regular at the zoo bar, where he became good friends with the founder Jim Ludwig. He asked Ludwig if he could put some of his records into the jukebox and was allowed to. Eventually Boehmer started to bartend there and began booking talent to play at the bar. Ludwig was at the press event and spoke about those early days at the Zoo Bar.

“In 1973 I was a returning combat vet from Vietnam, and Larry finished up an MFA in fine arts,” Ludwig said. "And through happenstance, I ended up in the bar, and Larry couldn't find a college art teaching job he really wanted, so he came to work in the Zoo Bar… Larry had a passion for the blues, and was able to share that with a lot of people, fans, employees, musicians, really had an impact on a lot of people's lives. My own included.”

Stefanie Ortiz-Cidlik, Boehmer’s daughter, said while her dad was known for the blues, he kept up with current music, and would buy her records for her birthday.

“I remember there was one band in there,” Ortiz-Cidlik said. “I didn't know who they were, and I thought it was strange that I was getting this album, and it took a couple of years before they hit it really big. And it turns out that band was Talking Heads, and my dad knew them before anybody.”

Boehmer handed off ownership to his sons Jeff and Tim Boehmer, as well as longtime Zoo Bar employee Pete Watters, who currently owns the bar.

Larry Boehmer was a wonderful man and the perfect guy for me to learn the business from,” said Watters. “I'm really thankful that we didn't pick a generic name for [the street] that we're going to use his name. It is for all of the venues around and it's going to be it's going to be great.

Zoo Fest, a festival that started while Boehmer was owner, begins Friday and goes through the weekend.