Terry Uland, who led the Downtown Lincoln Association through a period of tremendous growth in the downtown area, has announced plans to retire.
Uland joined the DLA in March 2007 as deputy director and then was promoted to president and CEO nine months later when Polly McMullen resigned to move to California. Before joining the DLA, Uland led Neighborworks Lincoln for more than 15 years.
Since Uland took over, downtown Lincoln has seen one of its most active periods of development in the city's history, with more than $1 billion worth of new construction and triple the number of people living downtown.
“It has been an incredible honor to serve the downtown community, and I am extremely proud of what our staff and board have achieved over the last decade,†Uland said in a news release.
The DLA board of directors did a national search for a new leader, but decided the right person to lead the organization forward was already a part of it.
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Deputy Director Todd Ogden, who also has been with the organization since 2007, will take over as president and CEO.
Ogden, a Lincoln native and University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate, was promoted to deputy director of the DLA in 2014.
Ogden said his primary focus will be working to implement the goals set forth in the recently adopted 2018 Downtown Master Plan. Those include redeveloping the vacant Pershing Auditorium, building a West Haymarket park and creating a downtown music district.
"There is no better time to be downtown than today, and it’s because of the people," Ogden said in the news release. "My primary focus will be to make downtown a place everyone in the community is proud to be a part of."
The DLA, which has been around since 1967, promotes economic development downtown, lobbies on behalf of members and also is responsible for maintenance of downtown landscaping.