It’s been more than three years since planning for Lawrence’s 150th birthday began, and committee members are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“We have kind of a slow and steady progression toward this goal, and I think we’re where we need to be,” said Clenece Hills, president of the Sesquicentennial Commission’s board of directors.

The celebration, set to continue through 2004, will kick off in just a few months with an Independence Day parade, an event Hills said she thought would spur the rest of the community into action.

About 20 to 30 people attend planning meetings held the fourth Wednesday of every month, but Hills said other community organizations would start planning their own events and celebrations as time draws near.

When they do, they will be adding to an already busy calendar, a glimpse of which will soon be available at www.lawrence150.org.

Four official committees are planning activities for the birthday, which is officially Sept. 18, 2004.

On that day there will be a second, larger parade as well as a gala event at the Lied Center.

Among other plans:

l The Heritage committee is working on a map project exhibiting Lawrence demographics and geography throughout the years. The committee hopes to have some sort of product available for purchase in local stores as the holiday season approaches. Also in the works is an old-style garden to be located near the Murphy-Bromelsick house, a Civil War-era home located in Hobbs Park.

l Local third-grade teachers are helping the education committee develop an information packet about Lawrence history. Hills said she hoped it would be complete by Spring 2005.

l Members of the horizons committee are working with Lawrence Parks and Recreation to build a commemorative plaza near Clinton Lake on land leased from the Army Corps of Engineers.

While the project was a major undertaking, it would come at only modest expense to the Sesquicentennial Commission, Hill said. Lawrence doesn’t want the birthday to go by unnoticed, she said, “But at the same time we don’t want to be extravagant and foolish.”

By the end of the sesquicentennial, Hills estimated that $250,000 would be spent. The City Commission, as well as donations and other sources of funding, will pay for the celebration.

l The festivals committee is arranging for a series of programs at the Lawrence Arts Center that target local history. A timeline collage made up of contributed photographs was also planned, and there had been talk of commissioning a march for the city.

l And a culminating event could be a presidential debate in October 2004. The Commission has applied for selection as a stop on the campaign trail with the Commission on Presidential Debates and will be notified in June if selected for an on-site visit. A final decision would then come late in 2003.