The playground at Clinton Park is currently closed after someone apparently vandalized a play structure in a way that made it unsafe to use, according to a city official. Mark Hecker, assistant director of Parks and Recreation, said during a Parks and Recreation Advisory Board meeting Monday night that someone over the weekend had removed the caps from the tops of the poles holding up the play structure. The ...
In an overflowing City Commission room Tuesday night, fire department staff and dozens of Lawrence residents expressed their concern over a budget proposal to cut daily staffing for the Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical department. The proposed 2025 city budget, which was presented to the commission on Tuesday and would increase the city's property tax rate by 3.5 mills, would also decrease minimum staffing ...
Updated at 4:43 p.m. Monday, July 8 As part of the proposal for next year’s city budget, Lawrence City Manager Craig Owens is asking for a measure to be put on the November ballot in which Lawrence residents would vote on whether to raise the affordable housing sales tax from 0.05% to 0.10%. A large amount of the new money would fund programs for homeless services, which the city created with temporary ...
The major renovation proposed for the Outdoor Aquatic Center at 727 Kentucky St. gives the space a major facelift by gutting lots of the current pool area and replacing it with a lazy river, splash pad and shallow pool. The aquatic center was last renovated nearly 30 years ago, in 1995. The city allocated $6.1 million in its 2024-2028 Capital Improvements Program for design and construction of the new ...
As Lawrence continues to grow and change, city leaders have worked with the public to create a comprehensive plan that would set out ways the city could develop for its future. One of the hallmarks of that comprehensive plan — Plan 2040 — is figuring out ways to create more dense growth and better connectivity of transit besides just cars. But city leaders now are considering a plan to increase density ...
A mix of heavy rain and a failure of Wi-Fi and satellite communications grounded the planned drone lights show at Summerfest Wednesday night. Porter Arneill, assistant Parks and Recreation director for arts and culture, said that while the 200 drones were set and ready during a window with clear skies, disaster struck right before the launch time at around 10 p.m. “Everything was a go,” Arneill said. ...