From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Feb. 4, 1987:

Opponents of a proposed shopping mall in downtown Lawrence were planning to circulate petitions to force a public vote in April. Leaders of the new Citizens for a Better Downtown group said that they hoped to get the issue on the ballot for the April 7 city general election, but they were prepared to ask for a special election if necessary. Nearly 200 people opposed to the project had filled a Lawrence Public Library conference room on a recent night to discuss the issue and to agree on the petition drive. They had concluded that it was impossible to word the petition to call for a vote for direct opposition to the mall, so the group decided to word the ballot question in this way: “Shall the following be adopted? Massachusetts Street and Vermont Street shall not be closed or vacated from Sixth Street to Eleventh Street.” If this measure passed, it would be impossible for developers to carry out the current mall plan.