From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Sept. 12, 1989:

At their meeting the previous night, Lawrence school board members voted unanimously on a site as the “best option” for the proposed second high school. The 50-acre site, located one mile west of the intersection of 15th and Wakarusa, ranked high on the board’s set of criteria that had included natural features, access to city services, and location in relation to the city’s growth pattern. The acreage had been purchased by the board in the fall of 1986 for $2,700 per acre. The three other sites that made the board’s final cut were all near the Sixth and Wakarusa area, where land prices were ranging from $6,000 to $23,000 an acre. The price of the land was an important factor in the decision because district administrators had estimated that a new high school would cost local taxpayers between $20 million and $25 million. A bond issue for the school had not yet gone before the voters, but board members wanted the issue to be on the ballot in spring 1990. Some local residents were reportedly not pleased with the board’s choice of the district-owned land in far west Lawrence as the preferred site. The inconvenience of the site was one issue raised, but most objections came from residents’ wish that the two schools have similar student populations.