News Center listed on national historic register / LJWorld.com

Archive for Friday, November 22, 2002

November 22, 2002

The old U.S. post office building at 645 N.H. has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Originally opened in 1906, the building now houses The News Center, an operation combining the news gathering operations of the Journal-World, 6News, and World Online.

"It's a grand old building," said Dan Simons, manager of new ventures for The World Company.

Its listing on the register is expected to protect the building from adverse development and makes it eligible for investment tax credits. The building was nominated for the register by Mike Treanor, a Lawrence architect whose firm designed the renovation.

"Obviously it holds a significant place in the history of Lawrence," Treanor said. "It's a style of architecture that is worth saving. It's a really beautiful building."

That style is known as Beaux Arts architecture, Treanor said. Beaux Arts was made famous in France in the 1890s and characterized by grandiose compositions with lavish detail. Highlights include paired columns, pilasters, balustrades and window balconies.

In the early 1900s, Beaux Arts became the favored style for courthouses, museums, railroad terminals and government buildings.

The post office building was the first federal building in Lawrence, and was built under the direction of the supervising architect of the U.S. Treasury Department.

¢ A complete list of Kansas' historic places

The nomination process for the National Register included applications to the Lawrence Historic Resources Commission and the Kansas Historic Sites Board before going on to the National Register under the U.S. Interior Department.

The renovation of the building into the News Center was done in accordance with state and federal historic preservation standards, Treanor said.

In Lawrence, 30 buildings and two districts " Haskell Indian Nations University and the Old West Lawrence neighborhood " are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Five of the buildings are downtown:

The News Center, 645 N.H.
Watkins Community Museum of History, 1047 Mass.
The old Carnegie Library building, Ninth and Vermont streets.
Eldridge House Hotel, Seventh and Massachusetts streets.
Douglas County Courthouse, 11th and Massachusetts streets.

The U.S. post office sold its 645 N.H. location to Kansas University in 1973. The building was used by KU Continuing Education and for storage until 1999, when it was sold to Postal Investors, an investment group with ties to The World Company.

After an extensive renovation, The News Center opened in September 2001.