Topeka ? A proposed $65.7 million business school at Kansas University will move a step closer to reality next week.

KU is asking the Kansas Board of Regents to authorize the KU Endowment Association to construct the 166,000-square-foot school.

KU has already raised a substantial portion of the cost of the project, according to a memo to the regents.

“Rather than selling bonds for the project, the KU Endowment Association has agreed to advance funds for the project and will be repaid as the pledges mature over several years,” the memo said.

Private gifts will fund the design and construction costs of $55.7 million, while $10 million in university resources will be used to equip the building, and move some popular tennis courts elsewhere on campus.

When the new building is finished, Summerfield Hall, which houses the current business school, will be used for other purposes.

The regents, which approved the project in concept last year, will take up the issue again on Wednesday. KU is seeking approval for the KU Endowment Association to act as the contracting authority for the project, which will then be overseen by the University Design and Construction Management Office.

Last year, John B. Dicus, the chairman and chief executive officer of Capitol Federal Savings in Topeka, and a KU alum, announced a $20 million “lead” gift from the bank’s Capitol Federal Foundation to go toward the new building.

The six-story structure will be located on Naismith Drive directly across from Allen Fieldhouse.

Neeli Bendapudi, dean of the business school, has said construction could start in 2014 and the building could open in time for the 2015-16 school year.