25 years ago: County attempts to speed up demolition of East Lawrence houses

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for May 19, 1988:

  • Douglas County was hoping to bring to a speedy conclusion the story of the dilapidated houses in the 1100 block of Rhode Island Street. County commissioners were planning to ask the city to shorten the normal 30-day waiting period on demolition permits so that the four houses at 1108, 1112, 1114, and 1116 R.I. could be razed quickly. County Administrator Chris McKenzie had applied for the permits on May 10, anticipating that public bids would be submitted for the process. However, the county purchasing director said today that no bids had been submitted by the deadline. The county had been going to give successful bidders 60 days to move the houses to other lots or scrap them for materials. With no apparent public interest in moving the houses to other locations, the commissioners said this morning that they wanted to clear the lots as soon as possible.
  • It was announced today that a Topeka construction company had submitted the low bid for construction of a Human Development Center at Kansas University. The 127,000-square-foot facility, to be located east of Haworth Hall on the Lawrence campus, was to provide classroom, clinic, and research space for several departments and university agencies.