Many fine interior features have been preserved. The exterior is vintage Lincoln-era architecture. It is sound as it stands, but it cannot be moved at any reasonable expense. The Roberts Bros. Building is in good repair and an attractive style that blends with the few nineteenth-century buildings that remain intact around the Square. The Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill building, now well occupied with a bank and offices, is an architectural classic.
Studies show that such parks are an urban detriment, no matter how prettily they are planned.
They are expensive to maintain. We can look at the brief history of Union Square Park in front of the station. Pedestrians will skirt a mall-like park. It is a sense of Lincoln that tourists look for, not flower beds. Another consideration is the effect a mall will have in impeding the revitalization of the near north side of the city.