From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Dec. 7, 1988:

The Lawrence Arts Center had recently released a report showing that the 14-year-old facility had outgrown their location and needed to expand. The center, which was housed in the old Carnegie library at Ninth and Vermont, needed a four-fold increase in space to remedy the problem, administrators said. “We’ve stopped coming up with new classes,” said center director Ann Evans. “We also have practically no performing arts classes because classes conflict with rehearsal schedules.” According to the report, the center needed an additional 28,350 square feet, including a new gallery, 250-seat performance hall, dance studios, classrooms, storage and offices. The current building’s 13 rooms, including offices, totaled only 7,200 square feet. When it had first opened in 1974, the Lawrence Arts Center had served 240 students in 20 classes; in the most recent year, it had offered 280 classes for 2,900 students. In another comparison, the performance schedule in the first year had included just 10 concerts; in 1987-88, the center had hosted 110 performances, attended by 12,600 people, all in the single performance space available. An advisory committee was looking into moving the center to a new building or expanding the Carnegie building; it was estimated the latter option would cost about $2.5 million.