The story has been told many times, but it bears repeating.

Few universities in the country are as fortunate as Kansas University to have ample land available to take care of their needs to expand teaching and research facilities.

Several weeks ago, news reports told of KU’s plans to build a large parking lot, a major addition to the Structural Biology Center, new roads, new utility lines and, quite possibly, numerous other buildings.

All of this is being done on acreage west of Iowa Street that was purchased years ago by farsighted members of the Kansas University Endowment Association. This land was acquired with private funds, and the university has been able to use it at no cost to the state or the university.

It’s free! That being the case, many at KU have numerous and wondrous plans for how they would like to grab onto a piece of this very special property for a new building.

Most universities find themselves landlocked, unable to expand their facilities without knocking down older buildings to provide space for newer, larger and usually much taller buildings. Or if they can’t expand in this manner, they try to buy adjacent property that carries a high price tag or develop a satellite campus some distance from the core campus.

The KUEA has the West Campus, and university officials continue to study how they would like to use this land. At this time, some might think there is ample space to take care of the school’s needs for many, many years to come, but who knows what the future will hold?

At one time, not too long ago, university officials were saying there probably wouldn’t be a need to expand the campus footprint to any degree. Enrollment numbers were not likely to match the increases of the post-World War II years, they said, and because of changes in how courses were taught and “distance learning,” there would be a re-examination of the school’s future building needs.

It’s easy to understand why most faculty members, school administrators and students would like to have new buildings rather than using older facilities, but just because land is available is no reason to pick out a site and announce plans for a new instruction or research building.

The presence of this land is saving the state hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars. Some wonder why there could not be some kind of minimal compensation from the state to the Endowment Association for making this land available. Any payment would be set aside for use only to acquire additional land.

What would KU officials do if they did not have the Endowment land? This raises another point. KU officials should not look upon this land as theirs; it is owned by KUEA. Endowment officials should use care in how they hand over this land and make sure the footprints for new facilities requested by KU officials are reasonable and conservative rather than allowing building sites to take up far too much acreage.

Although some at KU talk about the eventual possibility of taking land currently used for intramural fields near Iowa Street and Clinton Parkway, it is hoped this open green space will be preserved for years to come. It provides a very special open vista to the campus.

The Endowment Association was able to buy the West Campus acreage years ago through the generosity of alumni and friends. It also was helpful to have association officials who had the vision to realize the importance of ample space on which the university could grow.

The KU campus is approximately 1,000 acres, roughly 900 of which were acquired by private funds. Likewise, a high percentage of all buildings on the KU campus have been funded either totally or partially by private funds.

One problem exists, however, in this very favorable land/building climate, and that is the fact that, while KUEA and the university are able to attract private funds and other money to build buildings, precious little, if anything, is given to take care of their upkeep. State officials have expressed concern over this and say there should be far better coordination between KU and state officials concerning where money will come from to maintain new buildings. Is the state responsible for maintenance costs for any building KU can fund?

Getting back to the land situation. Over the years, KU chancellors have noted what the KUEA means to the university and how it provides the “frosting on the cake,” allowing KU to do many things other state-aided universities cannot. It’s likely many hear this message and let it go in one ear and out the other, not really taking it very seriously. It is true, however. If there was a map or drawing identifying all of the campus land and buildings made possible by private funding, it would be shocking to most viewers.

Consider what the KU campus would be today without private funding. Even though it appears there is far more land on West Campus than the university will need in the foreseeable future, it is hoped KUEA officials will be extremely cautious in how much land they allocate in response to the university’s sure-to-come requests. Also, it is hoped new building plans will call for buildings to be taller rather than spread out, even though there appears to be more than ample space to grow.

As an aside, maintenance facilities, landscaping buildings, warehouses, motor pool offices and materials storage buildings currently occupy strategically located space on West Campus. These operations could be moved to an off-campus site, freeing up space that could become very valuable for the university.

As real estate agents always stress, “location, location, location” are the three most important factors when considering the purchase of any property. How could any university be more blessed than to have land adjacent to its core campus provided by private funding?

This is why it is so important to make sure each request for Endowment land is given serious scrutiny by both university and Endowment officials. Requests should not get automatic or quick approval.