WRITER: Bremen Keasey

Parks, Recreation and Culture's master plan proposes making public art program a permanent city ordinance

For decades, the City of Lawrence's biggest building projects, including its police headquarters and bus station, have set aside a portion of their funding for public art, and now a new proposal could make this tradition stronger by permanently enshrining it as a city ordinance. The program is called Percent for Art, and it's been around since the City Commission initially approved a resolution on it in 1986. ...

Theatre Lawrence's first play of the year, 'Native Gardens,' is a sitcom-style feud whose roots run much deeper

The saying goes that “good fences make good neighbors.” And in Theatre Lawrence's first show of 2025, which premieres Friday night, tearing down a fence makes a good story. "Native Gardens," a play written by Karen Zacarías that was first performed in 2016, starts off with what looks like a typical — and comedic — neighborly dispute. But it “plants the seed” for the audience to explore much ...

Lawrence's mayor says he's glad to see public works campus moving ahead; 2 new agreements approved for construction, engineering

Lawrence city commissioners approved two agreements on Tuesday night for construction and engineering work on the city’s new public works campus, and the mayor said he was glad to see the project making headway. The two agreements will cover different parts of the construction work on the Municipal Services and Operations campus, which will be located at VenturePark in eastern Lawrence on the site of the ...

Lawrence staff outlines financial tools that could generate new revenues during Parks & Rec Master Plan presentation

Fee options, a greater piece of the tax pie and a foundation to accept donations were just a few recommendations for creating revenue that Lawrence staff and consultants outlined Monday for the Parks, Recreation and Culture Master Plan. The city presented parts of its plan to the Parks and Recreation Advisory Board and Cultural Arts Commission on Monday night — the first public presentation of portions from ...

101 hours nonstop, hundreds of miles of plowing and 'all hands on deck': How Lawrence's road crews battled the winter blast

The calendar had barely flipped from 2024 to 2025, but Mike Lawless was already bracing for what might be his department's biggest operation of the year. A serious storm was coming, and for his snow removal team with Lawrence's Municipal Services and Operations division, that was going to mean days of nonstop work — an operation that would span more than a week, sometimes with people working 12-hour shifts ...

Lawrence City Commission to consider new agreements for construction, engineering of Municipal Services and Operations campus

Lawrence city commissioners will consider approving construction and engineering agreements with two firms for work on the city's new Municipal Services and Operations campus. The agreements would cover different parts of the construction work on the campus, which would be located at VenturePark in eastern Lawrence on the site of the former Farmland Industries fertilizer plant. One would be a $17,983,565 ...