Perkins addresses complaints about possible football facility

Kansas University athletic director Lew Perkins responded Thursday to recent chatter around the university that questioned the new football facility currently in the process of being funded.

Though no specific details have been cemented regarding the proposed facility, which currently is in nothing more than its fund-raising stages, fans and media have criticized some aspects of it, most notably the notion of the facility blocking the view of Campanile hill beyond the south end zone.

“When we have secured the funding necessary to build a suitable facility,” Perkins said in a statement Thursday, “we will meet with the chancellor and all appropriate university administrators to determine the best location for it.”

The University Daily Kansan ran a column this week questioning the effect of the proposal on annual graduation ceremonies, which traditionally consist of candidates walking down the hill and into the stadium where commencement exercises take place.

“We recognize the time-honored graduation traditions of the University of Kansas at Memorial Stadium; we will make decisions regarding the proposed facility’s location with thoughtful consideration of those traditions and the best interests of the university,” Perkins said.

Chatter also heated up among fans. A caller into KU coach Mark Mangino’s weekly radio show Thursday voiced a complaint about the possibility of the new building blocking the view of the hill, a scenery that makes Memorial Stadium one of the most enchanting stadiums in the Big 12 Conference.

In response, Mangino cited the four-story video board already in place, and assured listeners that any sort of facility would be no taller than one or two stories.

KU reportedly is close to securing the necessary funding for the facility, which would feature offices, meeting rooms, locker rooms and a weight room. Sources told the Journal-World that a $20 million donation from KU benefactor Bud Adams, also the owner of the Tennessee Titans, might be forthcoming soon — a donation that likely would set the plan into motion.