Historic hall to get facelift
Spooner Hall on the KU campus will be getting a much-needed facelift this spring. A $1.1 million project is set to begin in March. Enlarge video
Spooner Hall has previously served as KU’s first library, an art museum and an anthropology museum. Today, it houses Spooner Commons, a space for meetings, workshops and lectures.
One of Kansas University’s oldest buildings is getting a $1.1 million facelift.
Beginning in March, Spooner Hall, dedicated in 1894, will undergo an exterior renovation expected to be completed by the fall.
The repairs are needed, said Mark Reiske, KU’s associate director of design and construction management. He pointed to crumbling stone and an eroded column near a window on the north side of the building Tuesday afternoon, saying the wear had allowed moisture to get into the building.
KU conducted an analysis on the building last fall, and presented its findings to the state and community historic preservation groups, which approved the renovation. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
Work will include patching and replacing stone that is beyond repair, cleaning and waterproofing the building’s exterior and repairing steel panels on upper walls to prevent further deterioration.
The biggest challenge has been finding stone to match the existing building, Reiske said.
“We’ve literally, for probably more than the last 10 years, been searching for stone for Spooner Hall,” Reiske said. “We’ve gone as far as India. We’ve come close to finding it in Colorado.”
Jim Modig, KU’s director of design and construction management, said the closest match came below a Colorado neighborhood that would have needed to have been demolished for KU to gain access.
“You want to preserve as much as you can, and replace as little as you can,” Modig said.
While there are no exact matches, they’ve come close on the color, Reiske said. The stone will probably look different as it ages, though he said a casual observer likely won’t see much difference.
Today, the hall houses Spooner Commons, a space for meetings, workshops, symposia and lectures. It has previously served as the university’s first library, an art museum and an anthropology museum.
The funding for the project will come from state tax dollars allocated to KU for deferred maintenance projects.
The renovation won’t completely fix all of Spooner’s problems — KU is still seeking more than $500,000 to fix an aging roof on the building.
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George_Braziller (anonymous) says…
I hope they put a little money into restoring the sunken garden on the south and can get the fountain working again. That was one of my favorite places in the early '80s to study between classes. I checked it out last summer and it was obviously suffering from neglect.
sunny (anonymous) says…
'State tax dollars'. Tax money tree.
Schools are closing. People are unemployed.
Pretty sickening.
oneeye_wilbur (anonymous) says…
What was not done properly with the re roofing several years ago? Correct about the fountain . There is a fountain and garden with taste. The Art Weaver courtyard.
But that building had some exterior work before on the columns, was it just patching? This work to be done must be long lasting and not some patch job all over again. How much was spent on the last roof re tile?
JayhawkAlum03 (Julie Gasper) says…
sunny, i think that's a little short-sighted. The deferred maintenance fund is part of what keeps KU running...lose this $$ and I suspect campus would become unsafe and unusable...leaving Kansas with one less access point to higher education and a bunch of people without jobs. Like it or not, but Lawrence's economy is very much dependent on KU and state tax dollars.
Sounds like this is more than just a "makeover" but is needed to preserve the integrity of the structure. Water coming in isn't usually a good thing!
jkilgore (anonymous) says…
Alum, I agree. Preserving buildings makes sense--much easier than rebuildling, too.
hipper_than_hip (anonymous) says…
What's the point of restoring the exterior of a closed building?
Fugu (anonymous) says…
hipper_than_hip,
It is not a closed building. In fact, it is a very active space. "Today, the hall houses Spooner Commons, a space for meetings, workshops, symposia and lectures."
http://www.thecommons.ku.edu/
hipper_than_hip (anonymous) says…
I'm referring to the closed Anthropology Museum.
George_Braziller (anonymous) says…
The Anthropology Museum isn't the building. The building is still being used. The items that were in the collection of the Anthropology Museum have been transferred to the other museums on campus
ralphralph (anonymous) says…
... and jazz concerts. I was going to trash the place until I saw jazz concerts. Fix it up.
Sparko (anonymous) says…
What did they do with the dumped stone from old Frazier Hall and other buildings? I assume these were matches for Spooner. Where was the original quarry? This prairie stone was fairly prolific in great buildings of the last century in Kansas--see the court house downtown.
jumpin_catfish (anonymous) says…
Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind.........
sandrat (anonymous) says…
sunny...
it's not like there is a fleet of robots who are going to remodel the building. Someone is actually going to get paid to do this... maybe your neighbor, friend or family member.
Also, It's not like this is a completely fabricated project designed to line the pockets of a politician. The school has a building restored, some construction workers keep their job, and a everybody wins. I'm happy to see some of my tax dollars used locally.
Sparko (anonymous) says…
Also: I believe this is federal stimulus money? Interesting this is not discussed in the article. The stimulus did a fairly good job of preventing economic meltdown, but the tea-party rabble have been able to mask its impact and distract people from the enormity of the crisis that has not yet passed. If this was intentional on the part of the LJW, well shame on its editorial slant.
Sparko (anonymous) says…
Yes--it is from the "evil" federal stimulus that is keeping Kansans employed and fed:
http://www.kansasregents.org/download...
Deferred maintenance budget. Yeah.
George_Braziller (anonymous) says…
There used to be a lot of stone, bricks, and remnants from demolished buildings carefully stacked in the old KU "dump." Most of it probably just went to landfill when the Lied Center and access roads were built.
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Sparko (Anonymous) says…
What did they do with the dumped stone from old Frazier Hall and other buildings? I assume these were matches for Spooner. Where was the original quarry? This prairie stone was fairly prolific in great buildings of the last century in Kansas—see the court house downtown.