KU News Release

KU to begin renovations on Jayhawker Towers building A

LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas’ Jayhawker Towers apartment building A will close when the semester ends next month for its first major upgrade since opening 41 years ago.

The 180 residents, mostly graduate students, are being offered apartments in the other three Jayhawker Towers buildings during the renovation. Tower A is expected to reopen in August 2009.

The renovation, estimated to cost $8.1 million, will start this summer and include remodeled kitchens and bathrooms, enhanced lighting, drywall installation over some brick walls and new plumbing, electrical, furniture, appliances and data and cable service.

The Department of Student Housing’s long-term facility master plan includes renovation of all four Jayhawker Towers buildings, with renovation of Tower B slated to begin within a few years. The complex, located between Irving Hill Road and 15th Street, opened in 1967 as privately owned housing before KU acquired it in 1981.

“We have been looking forward to beginning this project for some time,” said Diana Robertson, director of student housing. “For the last decade we have been very busy remodeling our residence halls and building new scholarship halls to give students the excellent variety of campus living options they want. That demand extends to students seeking independent apartment living on campus so it's gratifying that we are able to begin work on Tower A this year.”

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The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. University Relations is the central public relations office for KU's Lawrence campus.