In Lawrence, as in many towns, the conflict between preservation of the old and development of the new is a constant source of tension.

It also can be a source of constructive change.

Douglas County Bank’s downtown expansion serves as an example of both.

In late 1986, after 25 years at Ninth and Kentucky streets, the bank informed the Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Assn. of its new plan for the site. The plan included razing eight houses dating from 1863 to 1906 to make way for a parking lot.

The neighborhood opposed the plan, citing the homes’ historical value.

The next month, the City Commission approved the bank’s plan. The neighborhood group had proposed moving the houses, but the organization couldn’t find the funds. The bank said the houses had been neglected too long, and it couldn’t agree to moving the houses for fear of liability for injuries incurred in the process. The houses were razed June 27, 1987.

The bank’s move changed the way Lawrence deals with development and preservation issues. In reaction to protests from Old West Lawrence, the City Commission passed a requirement for a 30-day waiting period for public comments on all demolition permits. Another ordinance created the Historic Resources Commission, a local board charged with reviewing city historical structures.

Mark Kaplan, an advocate for historical preservation and author of “In Plain View: A Photo/Document of Old East Lawrence, Douglas County, Kansas,” said the Lawrence City Commission 20 years ago was so indifferent to the preservation of historical architecture it pushed for a mall to be built in downtown Massachusetts Street in the mid-1980s.

Under the current City Commission, four Lawrence districts recently were listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

It’s not just City Hall that’s had a change of heart.

“The business community leaders are seeing the sense in preservation, to bring retail dollars to the city,” Kaplan said.

John Gaunt, dean of architecture at Kansas University and board member of the Lawrence Arts Center, said the Douglas County Bank story partly explained residents’ distrust in the late 1980s of the Arts Center’s expansion plans for the Carnegie Library at Ninth and Vermont streets. The state historical preservation officer judged the plan to be inappropriate for the site.

“It would have been a good use of the library, but the end result was good, too,” Gaunt said, referring to the space which opened up for the Arts Center’s new home at 940 N.H.