Clinton lecture Lawrence’s hot ticket

5,000 free passes fly out of Allen Fieldhouse

They’re gone.

The last 5,000 tickets for former President Clinton’s appearance this week at Allen Fieldhouse were handed out Tuesday.

“Elvis is in the building — no, Elvis will be in the building Friday!” said a beaming Alice Lieberman, former chairwoman of the Douglas County Democratic Party, shortly after getting two tickets.

The last ticket was given away at 11:20 a.m.

Clinton will present the Dole Institute of Politics’ inaugural Dole Lecture at 2:15 p.m. Friday at Allen Fieldhouse.

On Monday 5,000 tickets were given to Kansas University students, faculty and staff. Another 5,000 were made available to the general public Tuesday.

“I got there at 6:30 a.m. and there were probably 75 people in line already,” said Richard Konzem, interim associate director of the Dole Institute. “It was raining, so we checked the weather-station radar and saw that more storms were headed this way, so we moved everybody inside.”

By the time the ticket office opened, a few minutes before 9 a.m., the line had wrapped itself around the interior of Allen Fieldhouse almost twice.

“The bulk of it was over in 40 to 45 minutes,” Konzem said. “With four windows open and handing out free tickets, it doesn’t take long.”

A worker at Allen Fieldhouse passes out tickets for former President Clinton's inaugural Dole Lecture. All tickets for the lecture, scheduled for Friday, are gone.

By 10:15 a.m., roughly 500 tickets remained.

The tickets distributed Monday and Tuesday are in addition to the roughly 700 tickets given to the general public, and an additional 1,200 tickets given to supporters of the Dole Institute, and state and university officials.

Those 1,900 tickets were distributed when the speech was scheduled for the Lied Center. Ticket demand led KU to move the speech to the fieldhouse.

Jim Will drove to Lawrence from Halstead.

“It’s 160 miles,” he said, quickly noting that he’s retired and did not skip work.

“I’m a Republican,” Will said, smiling, “but I think this is going to be an interesting speech. I want to hear what (Clinton) has to say because, well, I’m a little disgusted with what’s going on now.”

Carol Hall and her daughter, Kelsi, a fifth-grader, made the trip from Emporia.

“I’ve always been interested in politics,” Carol Hall said. “Kelsi wasn’t feeling good today, so instead of staying home I figured we may as well come up here and see if we can get tickets. I think it’s going to be fun to hear Clinton.”

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KU officials offer advice for Friday¢ Don’t plan on bringing anything big and bulky to former President Clinton’s lecture Friday at Allen Fieldhouse. You won’t get in.”You can bring a camera, but not a camera bag,” said Todd Cohen, a spokesman for Kansas University.The same goes for backpacks, oversize purses, umbrellas, thermoses and coolers.Video cameras and hand-held tape recorders will be allowed, but not their cases.Currently, plans do not include steering the crowd through metal detectors. But everyone will be subject to search.Clinton is scheduled to begin speaking at 2:15 p.m. Allen Fieldhouse doors will open at 12:30 p.m.Parking will be in short supply.”There are finals going on that day, the residence halls are closing, and there’s a baseball game that night,” Cohen said.To accommodate those with finals, on-campus parking restrictions will be enforced Friday until 10:30 a.m.After 10:30 a.m. most on-campus parking spots will be fair game.”You can’t park in handicapped parking without a permit. You’ll still have to put money in the meter, and don’t park in front of a fire hydrant,” Cohen said. “But the red-, yellow- and blue-zone parking permit restrictions will not be enforced.”He added, “The earlier you get here, the better your chance to find a parking space.”Traffic on Jayhawk Boulevard will be limited, Cohen said.First-level parking at Allen Fieldhouse parking garage will be reserved for people with disabilities.Also, eat lunch beforehand, and dress lightly.”It’s supposed to be warm Friday,” Cohen said. “Allen Fieldhouse is not air-conditioned. Water and other beverages will be for sale, but there won’t be food. You won’t be able to buy a hot dog.”