New gateway entrance to change face of campus' west side

LAWRENCE -- University administrators are hoping a new "front door" at the west side of campus will keep people knocking for years to come.

After a slight ice-related delay, construction resumed last week on a new entrance at 15th and Iowa streets, near the Visitor Center.

University Architect Warren Corman said the project eventually would include an 8-foot stone entrance sign facing Iowa Street, leading visitors to landscaped gateways and a brick plaza near the front door of the Visitor Center.

"This brings the whole campus together in one beautiful place," Corman said.

So far, construction crews have removed trees near the corner of 15th and Iowa and graded the open area leading to the future site of the stone and wrought iron sign.

Once complete, the new entrance will be unobstructed by trees or power lines. Landscaping will be redesigned to include ornamental trees lining a walk near the plaza and several types of native grasses in the field between the center and Iowa Street.

The gateways, plaza and landscaping are expected to cost between $800,000 and $900,000, Corman said.

John Scarffe, director of communications for the Endowment Association, said funding for the project was being raised through a private gift from the Robert H. Malott family. Scarffe said the $1 million donation was made in memory of Malott's parents, former Chancellor Deane Malott and his wife, Eleanor.

The project is part of the first phase of a $22 million project planned for the next 10 years. It implements the concepts recommended in Chancellor Robert Hemenway's 1997 Campus Plan.

The two guiding principles behind the chancellor's plan are efforts to preserve and enhance the natural beauty of Mount Oread and to create an environment that shows respect for learning.

Hemenway said the project, including the new entrance, would enhance KU's image of quality education on a scenic and historic campus.

"Beautiful surroundings greatly enhance the learning environment," Hemenway said. "A scenic campus helps create loyalty to the university, which in turn retains faculty members and brings alumni back to campus again and again."

The landscape master plan, which was completed last year with Kansas City-based Jeffrey L. Bruce & Company, is not the first plan developed for the university. In 1904, George Kessler created a landscape plan that placed a road that would become Jayhawk Boulevard through the center of campus.

In 1928, a company named Hare and Hare updated Kessler's plan with more layouts for streets and a few structures, including Strong and Dyche halls. More important, Hare and Hare's plan saved Potter Lake, Marvin Grove and the lawns in front of Strong Hall and Watson Library as green spaces never to be built upon.

The new landscape plan incorporates those historic plans with Hemenway's concepts. In several phases, the plan will beautify Jayhawk Boulevard, Oread Avenue and Memorial Drive; create a mid-hill walk from Daisy Hill to the heart of the main campus; and improve gateways and signage throughout campus. The plan also includes information about improvements to KU's landscape maintenance.

Corman said he was enthusiastic about the new plan, especially the first phase, which will include some of the most dramatic changes. He said he hoped for a fall 2002 dedication of the new west entrance.