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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2005
ALLEN FIELDHOUSE
Hall changing Fieldhouse face
BY ADAM LAND =
aland@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Tradition will continue to grow at Allen Fieldhouse this fall with the addition of a memorabilia museum. It will include interactive displays, trophy cases and pictures celebrating the traditions of athletics at the University.
Construction crews will continue to work throughout the summer on the new Booth Family Hall of Athletics, which will be added onto the east side of the Fieldhouse.
The ground-breaking ceremony was May 21, and construction began the next week, Jim Marchiony, associate athletics director, said. He expects completion before basketball season begins in November, but the opening date has not yet been set.
"We wanted someplace where we could celebrate KU athletics." Marchiony said.
The cost for the new hall would be between $6 and $8 million, with the Booth family donating more than $4 million, Marchiony said. The donors grew up off of Naismith Drive, but have since moved away.
They made the donation in honor of their parents.
"The concept is something Lew has talked about since he arrived at KU." Marchiony said.
The idea for the new hall came from Lew Perkins, athletics director.
After the idea took shape, the Athletics Department shared its idea with possible donors, Marchiony said. The Booth family also contributed ideas to the structure.
Architects and designers bid for the job, which was ultimately given to HOK Construction. The Athletics Department
was happy with the design firm, Marchiony said, which renovated the Jacksonville stadium for Super Bowl XXXIX.
The addition will be made from the same materials as the fieldhouse, which turned 50 this past year Marchiony said.
The only possible change to the exterior grounds may be the position of the Phog Allen statue Marchiony said.
"It may have to be moved," Marchiony said. "But it will be a prominent part of the Hall of Athletics."
During and after construction the Athletics Department will sell
commemorative pavers, Marchiony said. The pavers will be bricks that customers can purchase and have inscribed with whatever message they would like and that will fit. The pavers will come in two sizes; the smaller size is a six-inch square that will cost $350, and the bigger size is a one-foot square that will cost $600.Not everyone is as pleased with the addition as Marchiony.
"I think it's corporate, it's about more ways to make money," Matt Moreno, Wichita junior, said.
- Edited by Erin M. Droste
FACULTY
KU professor conceives racing museum
Replica race cars sit inside a model of the Le Mans Museum of Auto Sport Racing. The museum will be able to hold 160 to 200 race cars.
Contributed photo
Dennis Sander looks over his site model of the Le Mans Auto Sport Racing Museum. Sander designed the museum after the curving lines of the race track.
BY ERIN M. DROSTE
edroste@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Erin Droste/KANSAN
Le Mans officials have approved the design of the new Le Mans Museum of Auto Sport Racing. After years of researching and designing, Dennis Sanders museum is $200 million away from becoming a reality.
Sander, associate professor of architecture and urban design has been working on the design of a new Le Mans museum since December of 2002.
Sander traveled to Le Mans, France in 2004 and pitched his idea to the Le Mans committee. He said it immediately approved of his idea.
"I very seldom have had the hairs stand up on the back of my neck," Sander said. "That did it."
Sophie Delahaye, instructor in French and Italian, served as interpreter for Sander at the presentation in Le Mans. She said although there were a few questions about the design of the building and its costs, the committee was pleased with the design.
"Everyone was pleased and surprised that the project was so far along," Delahaye said. "Everyone thought it was awesome."
Sander said the total cost of the museum would reach $200 million. He is working with the Automobile Club de L'Ouest (ACO) to raise the funds.
Sander said he hoped to get donations not only from the big names in auto racing, manufacturing and supplies, but from everyone involved with the race.
"This museum will be a gift from the entire automotive industry that has gained so much from this race," Sander said.
The new museum will be dedicated to what Sander called the most glorious of all motor sport races: the 24-hour Le Mans.
The race attracts almost 400,000 people, including 30,000 to 40,000 Americans each year and is the original 24-hour auto race. Sander said.
The museum will house 160 to 200 historic and contemporary race cars popular to the Le Mans, including Bentleys, Audis and Mercedes.
In addition to cars, Sander's 500,000-square-foot design includes two IMAX theaters and eight smaller theaters, which can accommodate a total of 6.400 visitors.
Sander said his piece de resistance was the in-car experience. Twenty individual rooms will have an actual race car that visitors will be able to drive through
Delahaye said the museum would be a great place for families to visit, not only during race week, but all year long.
"It's a great concept and a wonderful project. It's extremely original," Delahaye said. "It will be a wonderful landmark."
The original idea for the museum developed from assignments Sander gave to his studio design students. During the last few years Sander has spent his own time and money to research and develop his design and has amassed 14 notebooks full of his research.
a virtual race.
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"I personally have logged approximately 2,200 hours, (or about 90 full Le Mans races) in the research and design of the museum," Sander said in a written statement.
Sander is currently planning a trip to the Bentley Motors Headquarters in Crewe, England, to raise funds for the museum. He said it would take at least seven to nine years to complete the project.