Consideration of city involvement in the restoration of the Lawrence Opera House topped the commission agenda. A spokesman for the Downtown Lawrence Assn. indicated the DLA intended to use the discussion as a springboard to broaden talks on the formation of a downtown improvement district. The building near Seventh and Massachusetts was for sale.

Local people involved in rehabilitating older homes were encountering distracting lien problems with a number of contractors. Efforts were being made to eliminate the problems because federal funds were involved in so many of the projects affecting people of modest means.

Testimony in a civil trial over a fatal 1977 natural gas explosion in downtown Lawrence halted, and out-of-court negotiations began to focus on ways to resolve the $350,000 damage action. The development came in the seventh day of the trial in Douglas County District Court. The trial stemmed from the late 1977 explosion and fire at a building at 747 Mass., where two men were killed.