News Releases
7/19/06
A $130,000 grant from the Getty Foundation, a program of the J. Paul Getty Trust in Los Angeles, will help the University of Kansas create a preservation master plan to guide future preservation and development on the historic campus.
The grant to KU Endowment is part of the Getty Foundation’s campus heritage initiative to help colleges and universities plan for the preservation of their significant historic buildings, sites and landscapes. The grant is the first the Getty Foundation has awarded in the state of Kansas.
The Getty grant will help the university mesh land use and campus accessibility with the 1997 Campus Master Plan and the 2002 Campus Landscape Master Plan.
The university needs a plan that will balance historic preservation of its buildings with the needs of campus expansion and guide KU in making wise decisions with limited resources, said KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway.
“The landscape and the buildings that make up the KU campus in Lawrence are a part of our regional heritage and a part of the lives of many generations of graduates, Kansas citizens, visitors and the Lawrence community,” Hemenway said. “This grant will help us inventory and study the campus to determine how best to preserve key elements while moving forward with development.”
KU is home to five buildings on the National Register of Historic Places: Dyche Hall, Lippincott Hall, Spooner Hall, Strong Hall and Bailey Hall. The study will reach beyond those buildings to study the historic value of all campus facilities and the landscape.
“The university recognizes the value historic designations have for the surrounding community, and this study will add to that value by identifying other historically significant elements across the campus,” Hemenway said.
To conduct the study, KU will use a portion of the grant support to hire landscape and historic preservation consultants who will work with staff members of KU Design & Construction Management. The project will be completed in six stages and will conclude by Dec. 31, 2007.
A steering committee will have oversight over the project and will have representation from campus and community organizations:
- KU Campus Historic Preservation Board
- KU School of Architecture and Urban Planning faculty
- KU Endowment Association and the Historic Mount Oread Fund
- Kansas Alumni Association
- City of Lawrence Planning Commission
- The Office of the Chancellor
- Design and Construction Management
KU Endowment is an independent, non-profit organization serving as the official fund-raising and fund-management organization for the University of Kansas. Founded in 1891, KU Endowment is the first foundation of its kind at a U.S. public university.
The J. Paul Getty Trust is an international cultural and philanthropic institution devoted to the visual arts that features the Getty Conservation Institute, the Getty Foundation, the J. Paul Getty Museum, and the Getty Research Institute. The J. Paul Getty Trust and Getty programs serve a varied audience from two locations: the Getty Center in Los Angeles and the Getty Villa in Malibu.
Additional information is available on the Getty Web site at www.getty.edu.