When the earth is dry, one can still see the outline of the old Fraser Hall’s foundation atop Mount Oread.

“It’s one of the artifacts that’s left from 100 years ago,” said Tom Waechter, assistant director for planning and programming.

The old building and others will be studied and included in a preservation master plan in the works at Kansas University.

The Getty Foundation awarded a $130,000 grant to KU Endowment to create a preservation master plan that will help guide campus landscape and construction decisions into the future.

“This grant will help us inventory and study the campus to determine how best to preserve key elements while moving forward with development,” KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway said.

The process will involve the work of KU staff, preservation consultants and a steering committee with representatives from such areas as the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, the Campus Historic Preservation Board, the city’s Planning Commission and KU’s design and construction management.

Those working on the plan will look back on KU’s history, exploring the people whose vision changed the landscape and identifying the periods of significance in the development of the campus.

“The real issue is: What’s worth preserving that we still have today?” Waechter said.

The old Fraser Hall is one example. Built in 1872, the building was named University Building before taking the name Fraser Hall in 1897. The building deteriorated with age and was replaced in the 1960s with the current Fraser Hall.

Lilac Lane, which still runs through the area, once circled the old Fraser Hall, Waechter said.

Such planning may help determine whether it’s important to re-establish portions of the lane or simply make note of the track that once was, he said.

“The question is: What’s really worth saving from different eras?” Waechter said. “It’s kind of the nature of campuses that you tend to lose things and not realize how significant they may have been.”

It will take about a year to develop the plan.