Lincoln mayor set to announce $17 million volleyball complex ballot initiative

Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird and N4VB, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding access to volleyball for young athletes, are planning to announce a November ballot initiative on Tuesday to fund a new sports complex.

After the $17 million volleyball complex got approval in May to receive state sales tax incentives, it now needs approval from Lincoln residents to receive the turnback tax. That would allow the city to take a portion of state sales taxes and redirect them into the project.

In the project’s proposal, the nonprofit estimates being able to finance about $12 million of the total construction cost with turnback tax.

The money will fund the construction of the complex at 30th Street and Folkways Boulevard in north Lincoln, which will feature up to 12 indoor courts.

Organizers hope the facility will provide more opportunities for recreational play, increase weekend volleyball tournaments and offer opportunities at a lower cost than what a volleyball club might charge, according to a 2025 press release from the city of Lincoln.

The Lincoln volleyball complex was one of two projects approved out of 11 proposals at the May meeting of the Sports Arena Facility Financing Assistance Act Board.

The proposal suggests more than 418,000 individuals will visit the complex in its first year. It also projects over $51 million in total economic impacts for the construction phase and the first year of operation.

The project has the endorsement of former Nebraska volleyball coach John Cook.

“I’m proud to support this facility and, more importantly, the movement behind it. It’s a movement that says: Every kid deserves the chance to play. Every kid deserves the chance to dream big. Every kid deserves the chance to belong,” Cook said in an endorsement on N4VB’s website.