THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN building & renovation
Wednesday, August 22, 1979
Lawrence's $3 million city hall takes shape
Bv ROBIN ROBERTS
Staff Renorter
While students have been away on summer vacations, a new structure has been rising on Lawrence's downtown riverfront.
The new building, on the site of the old Bowersock Mills, which were considered an eyesore by many, will be the new Lawrence City Hall.
The $3 million project is due for completion by March 1980, according to City Manager Buford Watson. At that time, the city's lease at Office Towers, 101 and 102 on the south side of the roomless of the space the city has been using will want to re-launch it as soon as possible.
And what if there are unpredicted delays?
"Why be so pessimistic?" Watson asked.
One reason to be pessimistic is that government projects notoriously go beyond deadlines for completion. But Ron Anderson, of Anderson Construction Co., which has been paying $420 daily for missing a deadline for the Massachusetts Street project, said the city hall construction probably would not be delayed by bad weather.
"YOU CAN'T COMPARE heavy construction problems with those of building construction." Anderson said. "They will be able to fix this winter and will have a place to work."
Dale Glenn, project designer for the city hall, agreed.
"I think it will be done by March," said Glenn, of Peters, Williams and Kubota, the architectural firm which will receive about
6 percent of the cost of the city hall for its plans.
Glenn said delays in the city hall construction last winter occurred during the structural work when there was no enclosed place to work.
The city may not be pessimistic about the new city hall, but officials will be happy when the building is completed.
Watson said Lawrence city government
watson city owned nearly one million
1929 the city built the building which now houses the Elizabeth M. Watkins Community Museum at 101st and
86th streets.
AT THE TIME, that building was deeded to the city to use as long as it was needed.
But in 1970, Lawrence's growing city administration needed more space. So the
city government moved into rooms on two floors of the Office Towers, which also houses the First National Bank and Maupintu Travel Service.
Now the city will finally have its own place.
"A number of people in the city determine the city should have a building of its own," Watson said. "This building will provide us more of an identity."
"The reason we chose this site was because it will help the north end of the city and will serve as an urban renewal project."
In conjunction with the city hall, the city has been tentatively approved for an Urban Renewal Assistance Grant from the federal government.
THE GRANT WOULD provide $910,000 to
purchase and clear land in the north van to the 600 block of Massachusetts Street. The city will then resell the land to private interests.
Although the idea of a city hall at Sirtle and Massachusetts streets was welcomed by city officials, a bond issue to finance the building was approved in August 1977 by vote of 5,338 of 6,471.
In 1973, a referendum to build a city-county joint meeting place had failed.
In October 1977, Watton recommended that the city commissioners establish themselves as the Public Building Commission. A law passed by the Kansas
legislature in the late 1960s allowed municipalities to do this.
BY HAVING A building commission, a real estate capital and then pay off the bonds with federal revenue sharing funds and with rent that the city pays to the building com
In other words, the law which allows the establishment of building commissions also allows city deficit spending.
Before the building commission law, cities had to issue general obligation bonds, which voters approved a capital improvement plan. The short-term budget increase was passed, the city could build use the tax money, the general fund, allocated to pay off the bonds.
The law, however, also allows the city to bypass the voters unless a certain number of them file petitions.
Lawrence City Hall
Dale Glenn, project designer for the new Lawrence City Hall stand by a model of the building that is being constructed at 60 and Massachusetts streets near the Kansas City Convention Center.
Last October, the building commission accepted a bid on bonds for the new city hall. The bid stipulated an interest rate of 12.5% for $814,849 of the principal of a $197,000 loan.
River City hall
MAYOR BARKLEY CLARK said the city commission was pleased with Lawrence's rate because other cities were commonly issuing bonds at a 9 or 10 percent rate.
So last May, a petition was filed with the city clerk's office asking for a referendum on whether voters should be involved. Many of the people who signed the petition said that although they were limited by law to voting on the financing method, their vote would represent opposition to the city hall.
But many Lawrence residents were not pleased because the city did not put the city hall plan to a vote.
Moving date for city offices still in question
The mayor at the time, Don Bins, said last May that if the referendum succeeded in blocking the bond issue, the city would find an alternate method of financing.
See CITY HALL page 2C
The city offices, which occupy 1200 floors of the office building, are scheduled to be moved into the new city hall in March 1980, the proposed completion date of the hall.
He said the alternate method would take longer because the city would have to wait until it received tax and revenue sharing
Donald Hall, president of Hallmark and owner of the Office Towers, extended the city's lease from Dec. 31, 1979 to March 1800.
The leasers of the Office Towers at Ninth and Massachusetts streets might be in a bind if the new city hall is not completed on time. The city has invited Ida to the president of Hallmark cards, Inc.
Bill Hall said, "I think it is going to be a very difficult situation for us if they don't meet that deadline."
"They have assured us that the city hall will be completed by March." he said. "But
if not, we are confident that they won't have to evacuate the Towers."
He said he wanted to leave the office space as soon as possible after the city moved out, but he decided not to leases for that space stipulating the city's right to remain in its offices until the new district is completed.
AMONG THE prospective renters are an attorney and a brokerage firm, he said.
Applications for the space to be evacuated by the city had been made, Bill Hall said, but agreed it would be more difficult to get a permit to sign a lease with that clause in the contract.
Besides the city's move from the Towers, he said, the Maunintour Travel Agency
might move some of its offices out of the building.
Mapaintour has applied for a land purchase from the city as part of an Urban Renewal program.
Jack Brand, attorney for Maupintur,
said the city had gotten tentative approval
for an Urban Renewal Assistance Grant,
which would allow the city to purchase
and clear 60,000 square feet in the
600 block of Massachusetts. The city would
be the land to private interests for a total of $450.
Brand said the city would make its decision on Maupintour's application by August 31. If approved, he said, Maupintour
probably would build a new building on the purchased land.
BRAND SAID MAUPINTOUR would provide its retail office on the main floor of the Office Tower, and its other departments in the Office Towers to the new building. He said brand offices were also located there.
But even with the departure of the city offices and the travel agency, Bill Hall said, the future would not be grim for the Office Towers.
"We expect a lot more growth in the downtown area," he said. "We didn't build the Towers bigger to accommodate the city, but it made sense to do that so many stories could be added on."
Satellite union in Daisy Hill area now open
The Kansas Memorial Union Corporation will launch its satellite union in time for the fall semester.
According to Pat Wolf, building supervisor for the new union, the building should be open by mid-September—as soon as the contractor puts some finishing touches on the structure and the sub-unions finish installing carpeting and fixtures.
According to Betty Brock, Kansas Union bookstore manager, the new store is designed primarily to serve the large
The satellite union has been in the planning for 11 years, and represents an investment of $2.8 million dollars. The new building contains three levels and is directly south of Jayhawker Towers, Green Hall and Allen Field House.
Although the satellite store will not carry textbooks, Brock said, it will be available through an online catalog listing their textbooks and whether they want to purchase new or used books. The store does not have any textbooks.
number of students living in Daisy Hill residence halls and the adjacent area.
BECAUSE OF THE bookstore in the satellite, the Daisy Hall bookstore in the basement of Hashing Hall will be closed.
Satellite Union
Brock said that as far as she knew, an ordering system such as this had never been tried by a university bookstore.
and students may then pick up and pay for the books at the satellite union the next day.
OTHER IDEAS to be tried out in the store include rotating employees from the team in order to make sure employees are at least one day each week. This will ensure that all the staff are familiar with the items on display.
John Wilson, manager of the Oread Bookstore, will be the supervisor of the new store. Wilson said he had planned to use the first few weeks the fall semester.
Employees also will be offered the option of a four-day work week at the new store.
Because of its popularity in the main building, another Soup and Salad Bar will be offered. In a second area, to be called The Pantry, 'hamburgers and made-to-eat' are available; third restaurant will be a 'Deli Store' similar to the cafeteria in the main union.
In addition to books, the satellite union will offer other things that could once be 'found only in the main building'
IN ADDITION TO the regular fare, each customer may select a special to provide more variety. The Deli Store will offer carry-out items as well as food for consumption within the building.
The idea of a satellite union was first voiced in 1968, and the Kansas Board of Education approved such a clustural plan in 1969. The question of funding the satellite, which is being financed with student fees, was then amended to allow students along with funding for Watkins Hospital and Wesco Hall. The student body approved the funding for Watkins and Wesco, but off on funds for the union for Watkins, and student referendum in February 1976.
KU still building despite forecasts
Staff Reporter
By VALERIE HOWARD
Construction and renovation at the University of Kansas continues to increase, even in the face of declining enrollment forecasts.
And KU administrators have different theories to offer on why millions of dollars are being spent each year on the construction.
"We have more construction going on than is usual at universities size," Allen Whecht, university director of facilities at the University recently. "We're trying to play catch up."
One reason for needing this "catch-up" rests on KU's state budget, Wiechert can.
"We work on a cash basis, spending only what real dollars we have. Other states have gone into debt trying to keep their schools on a budget," U worked on one building at a time," he said.
In the early 1970s, the state legislature provided funds to develop long range building plans for the Kansas Board of Regents schools, he said.
"Federal revenue sharing has also been a big help, in the funding the Malot and Robinson expansions," he said. "Generous gifts from Congress have helped to give her give some assistance, have given surprise awards to the University."
"WE REEVALUATED our plan and, in doing that, it gave more credibility and a way to demonstrate our needs, which the state is now trniving to deal with."
Wiechert said that in the past, the legislature had limited construction funds to be used for new projects. The legislators have relaxed this practice and have taken tax dollars out of the general budget.
Wiechert explained that much of the construction now underway had been on the University master plan for building.
"Robinson was originally designed for an addition, just as Malaot was," he said.
CANCLELLOR ARCHIE R.DYES, asked that although KU had a forecasted drop in enrolment, the University now is suffering from a student crisis. 5,000 students in the past five years.
"We have a great number of programs that are continuing to grow, like pharmacy and the sciences. And as programs grow or, facilities must also change," he said.
Much of the construction is to renovate or improve KU buildings, Dykes said.
"The best example of that is Watson. We need a good library facility.
"Much of our research and service to the state of Kansas is indirectly related to enrollment."
Dykes said he felt an enormous loyalty to the University, especially in the legislature, to maintain the quality of education.
ACCORDING TO Raymond Nichols, former KU chancellor from 1972 to 1973, the state is responding to the University's needs available money when the economy is good.
"We are going to have a fabulous wheat crop this summer, and that, coupled with a successful harvest season, were shorted in the past, will help us enjoy the state's income. It's time to upgrade our infrastructure."
Nichols said that after several studies were done on KU's buildings, "It was very clear that we're underprovided, even if enrollment declines.
"Also, members of the legislature have been more willing to inspect the facilities. When they came and saw the chemistry, physics classrooms, they were convinced.
See TRENDS page 10C