Top 10 Liminal Spaces of Downtown Lincoln

Have you ever walked through a place and felt like you were in a dream? The smell of damp carpet and fluorescent lighting, the space is eerie, yet familiar. 

 

With dimly lit staircases and winding hallways that feel stuck in time, Downtown Lincoln has a lot of spaces that are perfect for an adventure during the spookiest month of the year. 

A liminal space is a location that is a transition between two other locations or states of being. They can be abandoned, oftentimes empty. Think of the Skywalks or an apartment lobby at 4 a.m. This makes it feel frozen, slightly unsettling, but still familiar to our lives. 

Here are the top ten places in Downtown Lincoln that show the liminal space aesthetic is the perfect one for Halloween. 

 

10. UBT Place 

Formerly the Wells Fargo Building, the UBT Place building fits right in as they revamp the space. With its empty floors and high ceilings, you feel as if you’re in an apocalypse movie with all the greenery around.

 

9. SCC 

This is the perfect place for the liminal space aesthetic to thrive. SCC’s alabaster halls and clean feel portray a simple place to get to and from class but still feels like there is something human that is missing. 

8. Federal Trust 

Inside is an empty space available that used to be a bank and winding staircases that feel like they come out of nowhere. This is an awesome place to just explore and see where you end up. 

 

7. Bennett Martin Library 

Libraries are always a good place for the liminal space aesthetic. The shelves upon shelves upon shelves of books make it feel like you could be walking in there for ages. Inside, Bennett Martin’s little garden feels overgrown and wild enough that it is a little slice of heaven that shouldn’t be touched. 

 

6. Miller and Paine 

The winding halls inside Miller and Paine provide an almost pink hue to its walls from the overhead lighting. Walking through the halls feels like a place frozen in time. An obsolete bank that used to live inside the hallowed halls of Miller and Paine only adds to the building’s aesthetic.

 

5. US Bank Building 

The occasional water-stained carpet makes the spaces feel more real and less dreamlike. Still, with its empty walls, you can’t help but feel there is something lurking outside the halls.  

 

4. Lincoln Marriott Cornhusker Hotel  

The consistent patterns of the green railing and the brick walls feel untouched by humanity. Everything inside feels like a repeating pattern that could be a location in a video game. The Cornhusker Hotel provides an industrial color scheme that allows the architecture of the building to stand out.

 

3. Skywalks of Downtown Lincoln 

The Skywalks of Downtown Lincoln feel futuristic or like a fever dream. A hallway floating in between two buildings allows you to look out onto the street while staying out of the elements. These skywalks provide an ominous feeling with their repeated window paneling.

 

2. M Street Parking Garage

This space feels like it is pulled straight out of a zombie apocalypse. The unkept interior makes it appear forgotten, and the facade could use a touch-up, but it feels more appropriate just the way it is. 

 

And lastly…

1. Atrium Building 

This is the most liminal space in Downtown Lincoln. The inside feels untouched by humanity and the feels like a perfect parallel scene with small touches that make it feel more like a place where people work. The escalators perfectly frame the interior of the Atrium Building, creating a calming atmosphere while making your stomach flop because something is missing. 

 

---

Mentioned in this Post