As opposed to years in the past the location of prom has moved to the Beardmore Event Center located at 3730 Raynor Pkwy in Bellevue. In the past prom has been held at numerous locations in Omaha including the CenturyLink Center, the Durham Museum, and Creighton. This new venue will provide a location closer to the school, with more cost efficiency.

“The CenturyLink was really bad about what I would call ‘nickel and diming’ us, like every little thing we wanted cost us money, and they’re a lot more agreeable at the Event Center,” Junior Senate sponsor Tara Patomson said. “I think we’ll have a lot more freedom as far as what we want to do and how we want to decorate.”

Students involved in Junior Senate are responsible for fundraising, creating a theme, and setting up prom. Junior students were elected to the Senate at the beginning of the school year, then began prom planning and fundraising at the beginning of September.

“We usually start off the year with the biggest thing, picking the theme,” Patomson said. “Once we get that done, it’s just picking out decorations and trying not to spend a lot of money and just getting logistics figured out.”

Because of the event relocation to Beardmore, the process of planning prom has been different compared to how it has happened in the past.

“It’s just different; part of the space isn’t as big so that’s just one of my concerns, how logistically to lay everything out,” Patomson said. “I think it will be nicer because there is an outdoor area, so hopefully it will be nice and people can go out there.”

The closer location of Beardmore will make prom set up quicker and more accessible for members of the Junior Senate.

“The venue allows for a better set up time,” Junior Senate president Lexy Lopez said. “At the CenturyLink we could only go in the morning of, but now we have the opportunity to go the night before.”

The Beardmore Event Center also offers free parking for those attending events, so students will have less costs to worry about than in the past, paying up to $12 to park at The CenturyLink Center. Due to the financial benefits of the Beardmore Event Center, Patomson expects prom to be beneficial for the students.

“The upfront cost isn’t much different but once everything’s said and done I think it will be a lot cheaper,” Patomson said. “My hope is that this year, since we’ll be saving a little bit of money, we can serve something more besides just water and we could have some snacks; that will be something hopefully the kids will appreciate,” Patomson said.