The Central District at the University of Kansas is pictured on Tuesday, June 13, 2017. All new buildings in the 50 million redevelopment project are slated for completion before fall 2018. Pictured in the foreground, along Irving Hill Road, is the new Integrated Science Building and parking garage. Visible in the background are Downs Hall (center), the new residential hall and dining center located behind Oliver Hall, and the new Stouffer Place apartment complex (far right), located along 19th Street.

A year ago, the defining characteristic of the 55-acre swath of the University of Kansas campus now known as the Central District was dirt — acres and acres of dug-up earth, with heavy machinery lumbering around on top of it.

Now, more than halfway to the $350 million Central District redevelopment project’s completion, growling machinery remains but there’s a lot less dirt. The Central District’s transformation is visible, if not yet landscaped and polished.

Two new buildings are complete, the remaining new buildings have fully taken form, and — as of last week — three of the new buildings even have names.

The Kansas Board of Regents approved the $350 million Central District redevelopment project in late 2015, including KU’s first use of a public-private partnership funding model. The university broke ground in early 2016.

All the new buildings, roads and other features within are scheduled for completion by fall 2018, and university officials say the project is on schedule.

The project is one of outgoing KU Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little’s most outwardly visible achievements at KU.

But the chancellor, in a recent interview, noted that its real importance goes beyond looks to elevating and attracting students and faculty to science studies and research at KU.

That’s the part she’s most proud of, Gray-Little said. It includes the new Integrated Science Building within the Central District, plus new engineering facilities and the Earth, Energy and Environment Center under construction just across the street.

“I wouldn’t think of Central District as Central District. I would think of how we have changed science facilities,” Gray-Little said. “The need to redo science facilities has been a decades-long — maybe 30- or 40-year — need on the campus … It’s not to the point we would like to have, but it’s such a dramatic change.”

Here is an update of the Central District building projects. For a live webcam view, visit centraldistrict.ku.edu.

Completed or nearly complete

Parking garage — Completed earlier this year, six weeks ahead of schedule, according to a Central District update from KU. Connected to the Integrated Science Building and new Burge Union. Budgeted at $20 million.

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Downs Hall — New residence hall with connected dining center, located behind Oliver Hall. Board of Regents approved name last week. The dining facility was recently completed, according to a new KU update, and the residence hall opens to students in August. Located behind Oliver Hall, the residence hall features 545 beds and suite-style living. Budgeted at $49 million.

On schedule for completion in 2018

Stouffer Place Apartments — New apartment facility scheduled for completion in June 2018, located along 19th Street where former Stouffer Place buildings were razed. Board of Regents approved name last week. Features 708 beds across a north and a south building. Each unit will have two bedrooms and two bathrooms, or four bedrooms and four bathrooms. Budgeted at $58 million.

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Integrated Science Building — Scheduled for completion June 2018. A keystone of the redevelopment project. Features 280,000 square feet of space for teaching, learning and interdisciplinary research in chemistry, medicinal chemistry, physics, molecular biosciences and related fields. Budgeted at $117 million.

Burge Union — New student union scheduled for completion in June 2018, with name approved last week by Board of Regents. Located roughly where the old Burge Union stood and connected to the new Integrated Science Building. Features 33,000 square feet, a conference area and space for KU Legal Services for Students, the Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center, the Emily Taylor Center for Women and Gender Equity, a reflection space, a lactation room and a coffee shop and convenience store. Budgeted at $13 million.

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Central utility plant — Scheduled for completion summer 2018. Budgeted at $15 million.