Fire station projects win final approval

The Lawrence City Commission on Tuesday formally approved a $5.15 million project to build a new fire station and begin the process of moving another.

Commissioners gave informal approval last month to build a $5 million station on the southwest corner of 19th Street and Stewart Avenue, on land leased from the Kansas University Endowment Association for $1 a year.

To evenly spread fire stations across the city, Station No. 4 will be moved from 2819 Stonebarn Terrace to Wakarusa Drive north of Clinton Parkway. Design work for the project will cost $150,000.

The cost for both projects would be paid with bonds issued by the city. Design and construction of the 19th Street station could be started by the end of the year.

W. Lawrence rezonings get city’s green light

Rezonings for major new development — at what officials say will be the “gateway of Lawrence” — were approved Tuesday by the Lawrence City Commission.

The nearly 100-acre development on the southeast corner of Sixth Street and the South Lawrence Trafficway will include room for 100 single-family homes and 65 townhouses, as well as 32 acres for a retail shopping center.

Developer Brian Kubota said street and sewer construction could begin this fall, with the first new home sales slated for next spring. The commercial portion of the development would wait for the widening of Sixth Street between Wakarusa Drive and the trafficway; bidding for that city-state project is expected this month.