When P.O. closed its doors on March 23, many people were sad about the end of an era in downtown Lincoln. For a lot of people, a game day wasn't complete without a trip to the big red building on the corner of 9th and M Streets.

Many, many Husker fans will be thrilled to find out that P.O. Pears will soon return, and just like Bo Pelini and his football team, the new owner of P.O. Pears is building on tradition.

"I think the way we're approaching it is we're saving the best and cleaning up the rest,” said Monte Froehlich, owner.

As a Norfolk native and a 25-year resident of the capital city, Monte Froehlich appreciates the legacy of P.O. Pears, and he said he's glad it will be up and flying in the near future.

"It's got a great history. I mean, this is kind of an icon for downtown Lincoln and almost Nebraska as a whole,” he said. "We're very excited. I mean, things are changing by the hour. We're just scrambling trying to get everything cleaned up, fixed up and ready to open."

"This is our main floor and this is where a lot of the red Husker is going to come through. We're going to be repainting, putting red everywhere,” said Heather Wythers, manager.

Wythers will manage the new P.O. Pears.

"I'm thrilled. I'm very excited. I think there's been a lot of curiosity. I think that Pears was very missed when it closed down. I think the nostalgia is here. It's an amazing location. We're putting a lot of TLC into the space and it's going to be amazing,” Wythers said.

Wythers appreciates the faithful clientele the original Pears.

"They had a great clientele. They had people that would come on a regular basis and people would come from out of town to check it out. So we're excited to keep that going, but then we're also excited for how we're splitting the area up to have different themes for different spaces,” she said.

"I think just continuing the memories -- there are a lot of memories. One thing that came out during the P.O. Pears closing era was all the people's memories that they had here and so we just want to build on that,” Froehlich said.

Froehlich said he's aiming primarily at an event-type business, so at this point P.O. Pears will be open just for occasions such as Husker game days and private parties.

They're working fast and furious, but they will not be ready for the Husker home opener on Saturday. They do plan to open for a sneak-peak on Sept. 6. If all goes well they'll be up and running for Nebraska's third game of the season on Sept. 13.

Froehlich said he's aiming primarily at an event-type business. So, at this point, P.O. Pears will be open just for occasions such as Husker gamedays and private parties.