The Old Market and Haymarket are hot spots for fun when you're looking to do something fun in Omaha or Lincoln. Now, Fremont is trying to draw people to its downtown, starting with a pop-up park Monday morning.
In the middle of downtown Fremont, on top of a 28-space parking lot, sits a new, small green park — for a couple of months. It's Fremont’s first pop-up park.
"When you drive by, and all you’re used to seeing is one parking lot after another, then all of a sudden you see this beautiful green space. It’s like, wow! Where did that come from?” said Shannon Mullen from Mainstreet of Fremont.
The park sits on a lot just 40 minutes northwest of Omaha. The fountains, benches, and about $20,000 have all come from national and local grants.
WATCH: DRONE VIDEO OF THE POP-UP PARK IN FREMONT
At the May Brothers Coffee Shop, right next to the pop-up park, owner Glen Ellis said he's already seen a difference: from workers going outside to play games to passers by stopping to take some pictures, smell the bright pink flowers, or chase a butterfly.
“We're on Sixth Street, so from the back of our building all the way to Second Street, it's concrete,” Ellis said. “The city is in desperate need for a green space, so this is an extremely welcome addition to our city."
In the meantime, Ellis and his wife take the time to enjoy their new neighbor.
Originally set to be taken down in September, organizers said, the park area will likely remain through October. Then, just as soon as it popped up, it will pop out
Perhaps allowing for more colorful patches amidst the concrete lots, residents have "the opportunity to go ahead and purchase these trees and have them planted at home, while supporting this project," Mullen said.
If you want to support Fremont’s Greenspace Project and MainStreet of Fremont, you can give online via ioby.org.
Meanwhile, the city has had some artisan markets and music planned at the park while it's there.
