25 years ago: Lied Center groundbreaking delayed while construction bids reviewed

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Jan. 13, 1990:

  • Kansas University was postponing the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Lied Center previously scheduled for the end of this week. Allen Wiechert, KU director of facilities planning, said the ceremony was on hold because bids opened by the KU Endowment Association at the end of last week had exceeded the $13.1 million budget for the project. Wiechert declined to reveal the range of bids received. Henningson, Durham and Richardson, the architectural firm that had designed the building, were now reviewing the bids in an effort to identify sources of excessive cost.
  • Gov. Mike Hayden announced this week that Southwestern Bell Telephone Co. had been awarded a contract to provide telephone service to Kansans with speech and hearing impairments. The headquarters for the new service was to be located in Lawrence, Hayden said. About 50 new jobs were planned for the new center, which was to be located at Southwestern Bell’s Lawrence office, 734 Vermont. “The establishment of the Kansas Dual Party Relay Service puts Kansas in the forefront of providing services for the speech- and hearing-impaired,” Hayden said. “Only a handful of other states offer this service 24 hours per day, seven days a week.” The governor said the center was expected to be in operation by May 1.