40 years ago: Dozens begin river trip down Kaw

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for July 6, 1973:

  • About 75 people were shown in a Journal-World photograph today as they left the Kaw River Bridge in 27 canoes and two kayaks on the morning of the Fourth of July. The group, which had included many Lawrence residents, was setting off for a 10-mile river trip down the Kansas River. Mariner Scout Troop 660 and Kansas City members of the Ozark Wilderness Waterway Club were among the participants in the event.
  • The Douglas County Commission and the Lawrence City Commission were expected to act next week on a joint resolution to finalize their agreement to build a law enforcement facility. Under the terms of the draft resolution, the city was to pay $500,000 in revenue-sharing funds as an “advance base rental for approximately 10,000 square feet” of floor space for the city police and municipal court. The city would also pay a share of the operating and maintenance expenses of the building as well as a per capita charge of approximately $2 a day for prisoners kept in the jail. The county’s part would be to provide the land and pay for the remaining cost of the $3.6 million structure. The county would also be responsible for its design and construction.
  • Constant Construction Co., Inc. this week began work on a new stair tower and renovation of the west exits at Lawrence Memorial Hospital. The $39,950 project was part of a planned $6.25 million expansion project. Renovation of the surgical and obstetrical sections of LMH was scheduled to begin around the first of September. Currently in the planning stages for renovation were the pathology, radiology, pharmacy, and emergency facilities.