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Summer Session Kansan
Friday, July 9, 1965
Pride in KU's First Century Ref
NEW GYMNASIUM is nearly past the halfway mark on Sunflower Drive.
Bv Kit Gunn
KU will begin its 100th year this fall. Duringg this past century an average of approximately one building, addition or remodeling job has been completed each year.
However, this average is highly misleading; more than one-third of the construction at KU has occurred since 1950. This "construction boom" has not abated. In fact, it shows every sign of increasing in the near future, and a good deal more urgently than was previously planned.
THE STATUS of Fraser Hall, now the oldest building on campus and the subject of fierce controversy in recent months, has been considered by the University for a number of years. As early as 1958 it was stated that Fraser was either to be remodeled or replaced. Until 1962 it was thought that remodeling would be feasible, but in that year it was decided that construction of a new Fraser Hall would begin in 1965. The old building would remain in use until about 168; then it would be torn down.
But Fraser was only one segment of a complex plan of expansion. While new Fraser Hall was being built, a new gymnasium was to be completed to replace Robinson Gym. A little later a Biological Sciences building was to be constructed south of Malott and east or Summerfield Hall to replace Haworth Hall. Haworth then would be razed and a new Humanities building would rise on the site of Robinson and Haworth in time to be in service when old Fraser was removed.
Projected for 1963 and 1964 were the removal and replacement of Blake Hall and major additions to Watson Library. They were built as scheduled.
BUT THE REST of this plan was not to be: early this year studies indicated that old Fraser Hall could not stand the shock of construction of new Fraser, which was to be built less than 50 feet away. This was due in part to the fact that the foundation of the old building was only partially dug into the underlying shale; several feet of the soft rock remained underneath. The shifting of this shale weakened old Fraser considerably, in spite of efforts to halt the process.
Certain parts of Fraser, such as the towers, had even been closed before the true danger had been revealed.
It finally was decided that old Fraser would be razed before or at the same time the new building was being erected.
THIS DECLARATION brought about a violent outpouring of protest from several quarters. Many architects, students, historians, and private citizens pleaded for the preservation of Fraser and castigated the design of its replacement. Bumper stickers reading "Don't Build It" and "Redesign Fraser" appeared. Bernard (Poco) Frazier, professor of architecture and sculptor in residence at KU, created what he considered to be an alternate plan. "Letters to the Editor" columns reverberated with arguments pro and con.
In response to these appeals Gov. William Avery upheld the decision of the Board of Regents to replace Fraser Hall.
But not all disturbance at the end of old Fraser was for sentimental or aesthetic reasons. The loss of Fraser meant the loss of at least two years of the use of its classrooms and offices. The orderly construction scheme that had been planned would no longer meet the needs of the University.
New Fraser Relieves Bind
New Fraser Relieves Bind BY FAR THE MAIN agent for relieving this bind is to be new Fraser Hall. The building, to be constructed just east of old Fraser, was designed by James C. Canole, state architect. T.R. Griest of Topeka was design consultant, and Brown and Slemmons of Topeka did the working drawings.
The new building, closer to Danforth Chapel than old Fraser, will have more than twice the usable floor space of the old building. Having 29 classrooms, new Fraser will possess 96,000 square feet of research, teaching, and office space, compared with 41,000 square feet for old Fraser.
New Fraser will be seven stories tall, with red roof and twin towers reflecting the design of the building it is to replace. It will reach a height of 127 feet, the flagpoles boosting the total to 147 feet. The top of old Fraser's flagpoles are 124 feet above ground level.
HOUSED IN NEW Fraser will be departmental offices, faculty offices, classrooms and laboratories for the departments of psychology, anthropology, and sociology.
For convenience, all the classrooms in new Fraser will be on the first two floors. Elevators will service the facilities on the upper stories.
The cost of the structure was estimated at $2.2 million. For this, $1,-750,000 was appropriated from the state educational building fund, and $450,000 in grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
However, actual bids ran somewhat below this estimate. The apparent low bid for the general construction work was $1,222,900, made by the B.A. Green Construction Co. of Lawrence. Apparent low bidder for the electrical work was Norris Bros, of Lawrence, with a bid of $152,700, and the apparent low bid for the mechanical contract was $281,545, made by the U.S. Engineering Co. of Kansas City, Mo.
AS FEDERAL FUNDS are to be used to help finance the project, the bids for the construction of new Fraser Hall were submitted to officials of the contributing organizations for approval on Thursday, July 1. Keith Lawton, vice-chancellor for operations, said he hoped approval would be given sometime next week, so that construction can start at
The bids were opened Tuesday, June 29, in Topeka.
Kansan Photos by Dan Austin
TARGET DATE for completion of the new gym is February, 1966.
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