Oct. 5--The site looks like a Roman ruin right now, with columns sticking up from the mud. Across the street, the giant convention center-arena is under construction at 10th and Cass Streets. 

But by April 4, 2004, or sooner, the Hilton Omaha will be teeming with people attending meetings, sipping coffee in the open-concept lobby and strolling over the street on a 200-foot, glass-enclosed overhead walkway connected to the convention center. 

At least that's what city officials envision for the $71.2 million Hilton, which will serve as the headquarters for conventions as well as a general hotel in its own right. 

"It's going to be quite an elegant setting," City Planning Director Bob Peters said. 

"It is a luxury hotel at the level of Hilton standards," said Randy Stone, principal in the Dallas architecture firm RTKL Associates that is designing the hotel. 

"I can feel the grandeur and beauty already," said Julia Hansen, who is setting up shop in downtown Omaha as the Hilton's sales and marketing director. 

That's right -- Hansen is already booking rooms for 2004 and 2005, even though Stone is still working out the final design so contractors can bid on the finishing work on the hotel's lobby, restaurant, meeting rooms and guest rooms. 

It's not too early to start booking rooms for the 2004 College World Series, Hansen said. And Omaha business guru Warren Buffett has talked about having his company's 2004 annual meeting, which attracts more than 10,000 shareholders, in the new facility, too. 

When it's done, the Hilton Omaha will be Nebraska's largest hotel, with its 450 rooms passing up the 413-room Doubletree hotel six blocks away. Hansen uses the April 4, 2004, date as a starting point for bookings, but rooms may open before that if the hotel is done sooner. 

Peters said the opening date makes sense for another reason: "You don't bring a hotel on line in the winter months in Omaha." 

Owned by a City of Omaha nonprofit corporation, the Hilton was born in controversy, with Mayor Mike Fahey and the City Council disagreeing for months on the design, the size and the hotel operator. 

Compromise resolved the dispute, and the nonprofit corporation issued $103 million in 30-year bonds to finance the project, including land acquisition costs and other expenses. Revenue from the hotel is to repay the bonds. The City of Omaha would have to cover any shortfall, Peters said. 

Construction work is on schedule at the site, said Terri Dusek, a spokeswoman for Landmark Organization of Austin, Texas, the hotel developer. Landmark is responsible for meeting the construction deadline and staying within the budget. 

The hotel's foundations are in, and later this month Nebraska Machinery Co. will move from 401 N. 12th St. to new facilities in west Omaha. After removing some fuel-contaminated soil and demolishing the Nebraska Machinery buildings, the City of Omaha will turn the property over to the hotel corporation and construction on the hotel parking garage will begin. 

Having work under way is "a major milestone" for the city's efforts to attract conventions, said Charles "Sonny" Mares, chief of the Omaha Convention & Visitors Bureau. 

This week the bureau is hosting a group of meeting planners from around the country. One of the planned stops is the construction site. 

"Most meeting planners won't consider a location until they see construction start," Mares said. 

True, the convention center and arena will open at by next September, about seven months before the hotel. But he said that's no problem. 

"The community as a whole needs to understand and be a little patient with the fact that 2003 and part of 2004 are well behind us, because most convention groups are booked a couple of years ahead," he said. 

The bureau is courting meetings that will take place later in 2004, in 2005 and beyond. That means that the Hilton-less months between September 2003 and April 2004 won't hurt Omaha's convention chances. 

Mares said he welcomes the new Hilton office in Omaha. "Hilton certainly brings a world of experience that will help us all in the sales process," he said. 

Hansen, the Hilton sales director, has helped open other Hilton locations during her 18 years in the hotel industry, the past dozen with Hilton. She plans to hire an assistant and two sales people within the next 60 days. 

"You want to be prepared when the hotel opens with business all ready," Hansen said. 

She plans to work closely with the convention bureau and the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority, which will operate the convention center and arena. She stops by the construction site regularly and is familiar with its contemporary design and features. 

"I think it's going to be a pretty dynamic-looking building, lots of sunshine," she said. "Everybody will be very pleased." 

Hansen moved here from Philadelphia. "Omaha seems to be a very nice place, and I think I would like to make a home here for awhile," she said. 

Stone, the architect, said the Hilton Omaha is designed to work hand-in-hand with the convention center, hosting banquets in a 10,000-square-foot ballroom, breakout meetings in smaller rooms and informal gatherings at hospitality suites. There's a "concierge's lounge" on the top floor. 

The covered walkway between the convention center and the hotel's second-floor meeting rooms will be an important connection between the two, he said, adding convenience for convention-goers or for people who are staying at the hotel to attend arena events. 

"There's a lot of flexible space that can be divided up or used as a large overflow area for the convention center itself," Stone said. 

The main street-level entry to the hotel will be on Cass between 10th and 12th. There's a covered motor court for loading and unloading and fountains inside and outside the building. 

Rather than following the typical floor plan with the ballroom in the interior of the hotel, RTKL moved the ballroom to the main corner by the convention center, overlooking 10th and Cass. 

"We really wanted to get the energy of the project pushed out to the corner where it would be visible and celebrated," Stone said. 

The ballroom and the first-floor restaurant will have some outdoor seating along 10th Street. The exterior glass will have a natural green tint. 

"I'm extremely pleased," said Peters, the city planning director. "It's going to be a noteworthy addition to the downtown urban landscape." 

-----To see more of the Omaha World-Herald, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.omaha.com 

(c) 2002, Omaha World-Herald, Neb. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. HLT,