Lawrence has fallen short in its bid to play host to a presidential or vice presidential debate in 2004.

Lawrence, which was among the 14 finalists under consideration, wasn’t among the four sites announced Thursday by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

Clenece Hills, who led the committee that made the application for Lawrence and Kansas University, said she was disappointed.

“I’m very proud of that committee,” Hills said. “I don’t think there was anything else we could’ve done.”

Sites chosen for the 2004 presidential debates, which will be conducted beginning Sept. 30 and ending Oct. 13, are the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Fla., Washington University, St. Louis; and Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz. The vice presidential debate will be at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland.

It will be the third time Washington University has played host to a debate. Previous presidential debates at the private university were in 1992 and 2000.

Janet Brown, executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates, said the commission had a strong field of potential sites from which to choose this year.

“For the ones that were not selected, it’s not a comment on them,” she said. “We have four debates, not 14 debates. I know we were thrilled to have Lawrence’s application.”

Lawrence’s application suggested using the Lied Center as a debate hall, with KU’s Horejsi Family Athletics Center as a work room for the more than 2,000 members of the media expected to attend. Committee members also had floated the idea of erecting a giant tent near the Lied Center for the media.

Diana Carlin, dean of KU’s graduate school and Office of International Programs who founded DebateWatch, an organization that studies debates, said the lack of a site adjacent to the Lied Center to house the media might have hurt Lawrence’s chances.

“The Lied Center is a beautiful place,” Carlin said. “But if you can’t get the press nearby, it’s a problem.”

The application committee, which was tied to the Lawrence Sesquicentennial Commission, started working on the proposal in summer 2002 and submitted its formal application in March. Two commission members toured the Lawrence sites this summer.

The process included tentatively reserving 2,500 hotel rooms in the area, gathering endorsement letters and guaranteeing the committee could secure $750,000 in local funds if selected.

Hills said she didn’t regret going through the application process because it encouraged cooperation between city and university officials. She said Paul G. Kirk Jr., co-chairman of the Commission on Presidential Debates, encouraged Lawrence to submit its application again for 2008.

“That’s a little comforting,” Hills said. “It was probably a long shot to get in.”