This map shows planned new construction and landscaping in the University of Kansas Central District, the area northwest of 19th Street and Naismith Drive.

Thursday marked a milestone in the $350 million Central District redevelopment project at the University of Kansas. KU had a “topping out” ceremony for the new $117 million Integrated Science Building, considered a keystone of the entire district, in which the final beam was signed by stakeholders and hoisted by crane onto the building. With almost a year of construction in the area now completed, it seems like a good time for a photo update of how wildly different it looks already.

KU this week launched a website, centraldistrict.ku.edu, with Central District information and visuals — including a nifty virtual tour through a computer-generated view of what the area will look like when it’s done. (Click here to watch it.) Below is a new map of the area from KU, plus a video and some snapshots I took on campus. In case you’ve already forgotten what the area looked like before, I’ll remind you that the Burge Union and Stouffer Place apartments — numbering more than 20 buildings — were all torn down to make way for this.

This map shows planned new construction and landscaping in the University of Kansas Central District, the area northwest of 19th Street and Naismith Drive.

photo by: Sara Shepherd

Construction workers and other stakeholders sign the final beam of KU's new Integrated Science Building, under construction along Irving Hill Road, on Thursday, Nov. 10, 2016. The beam was later hoisted into place on the building as part of a topping

photo by: Sara Shepherd

The new University of Kansas Central District student union foundation is seen from inside the under-construction Integrated Science Building on Nov. 9, 2016. The buildings lie in the area the Burge Union once stood.

photo by: Sara Shepherd

The new parking garage (background) and the foundation for a new student union (foreground) in the University of Kansas Central District is under construction just south of the new Integrated Science Building on Irving Hill Road, pictured Nov. 9, 2016. The Burge Union previously stood at this location.

photo by: Sara Shepherd

Construction in the University of Kansas Central District, as seen looking east from Daisy Hill, is pictured Nov. 9, 2016.

photo by: Sara Shepherd

The new residence hall and dining center under construction in the University of Kansas Central District is pictured Nov. 9, 2016. The new housing facility is just west of Oliver Hall, at 19th Street and Naismith Drive.

photo by: Sara Shepherd

A new traffic circle at the intersection of new extensions of 18th Street and Ousdahl Road is pictured in front of early construction work on a new student apartment complex just west of the intersection on Nov. 9, 2016. Projects are part of the 50 million Central District redevelopment project at the University of Kansas.

photo by: Sara Shepherd

The Earth, Energy and Environment Center (EEEC), under construction on the northeast corner of 15th Street and Naismith Drive on the University of Kansas campus, is pictured Nov. 3, 2016.

photo by: Sara Shepherd

The space where McCollum Hall once stood is now a parking lot, pictured Nov. 9, 2016. The site is at the south end of Daisy Hill on the University of Kansas campus.

*
• I’m the Journal-World’s KU and higher ed reporter. See all the newspaper’s KU coverage here. Reach me by email at sshepherd@ljworld.com, by phone at 832-7187, on Twitter @saramarieshep or via Facebook at Facebook.com/SaraShepherdNews.