The Sandhills Global Event Center, formerly known as the Lancaster Event Center, is a public nonprofit fairgrounds-style event complex located in Lincoln, Nebraska owned and operated by the Lancaster County Agricultural Society. The events center was announced in 1996 and was originally meant to be built further outside of Lincoln.
- Venue
- Sandhills Global Event Center
- Town
- Lincoln, US
The Sandhills Global Event Center, formerly known as the Lancaster Event Center, is a public nonprofit fairgrounds-style event complex located in Lincoln, Nebraska owned and operated by the Lancaster County Agricultural Society. The events center was announced in 1996 and was originally meant to be built further outside of Lincoln. However, former-property owners objected to the land usage, causing its location to be moved. Ground was broken in 1999 and the center officially opened in 2001. It has hosted farm shows, trade shows, tractor pulls, swap meets, 4-H club meetings, Lincoln City Libraries book sales, and rodeos. All buildings are multi-use, with no fixed seating, for people and animal events by converting dirt arenas to carpeted space each winter when all buildings are used year-round for over 320 events. In 2014, it held over 270 events with approximately 558,765 people attending. Two hundred campsites with electric and multiple asphalt parking lots have been phased in over the years as well. The Lancaster County Agricultural Society, which manages the Lancaster Event Center, was founded in 1867 as the Lancaster County Agricultural & Horticultural Society and re-formed as the Lancaster County Agricultural Society in 1870 as a separate, county-level subdivision under Nebraska law to help promote agriculture. In 1996, the Lancaster Event Center was announced by the Lancaster County Agricultural Society. The complex was announced due to a need for space that the society lost at the Lancaster County Fairgrounds. The complex would cost an estimated $4 million, would seat an estimated 5,000 people and would be located on 112 and Adams Street outside of Lincoln. However, in 1997, former property owners Evelyn Weese and Frances Lageschulte came out against the decision for the event center to be built on their land. The property was sold to the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation in 1984 for the future usage of a historical agricultural museum. However, th