photo by: Josie Heimsoth/Journal-World

Douglas County commissioners met on Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

As the University of Kansas is touting the boost in visitors it expects from its stadium and convention center project, Douglas County leaders want to make sure that fire and medical services can handle any increase in demand.

At their meeting on Wednesday, Douglas County commissioners heard an update on the Gateway project from KU Chief Financial Officer Jeff DeWitt.

DeWitt told the commission that if the development proceeds as KU hopes — with a 162-room hotel and tens of thousands of square feet for retail, restaurant and office uses — the economic benefits for the county will be significant.

“You are going to get more money as a result of this project … in terms of the economic development activities that comes out of this,” DeWitt said.

KU is anticipating the completion of the $448 million first phase of the project in August, which includes the rebuilding of the west and north ends of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium and the new conference and convention center on the site. But the second phase will be essential to making that work, as KU leaders recently told the City Commission when seeking the creation of special taxing districts to help fund the project. That’s because of the hotel, which the university would partner with a private developer to construct. It would be more difficult to attract conventions and out-of-town visitors without a hotel in the development, KU leaders have said.

The second phase of development, which is estimated to cost $325.9 million, would not only include the hotel, but also 443 beds of student housing, 43,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and office space, and around 1,000 parking spaces located in a mix of underground parking garages and new surface parking lots. But despite the development’s scope, DeWitt said the project was meant to complement the businesses and attractions already existing in Lawrence, not compete with them.

“I’ve never been to a conference that I went to that I stayed on the site,” DeWitt said. “… I don’t think anybody does when you travel to a community. They’ll hopefully be going to the lakes and going to the recreation areas that the county has and going downtown.”

When people staying in the area go out in the community and spend money, he said, that will bring more tax revenue in for the county.

But the commissioners thought it wouldn’t just bring more money to the county — it would also bring more demand for emergency services.

County Commissioner Karen Willey said that with more people coming in, some of whom may have special medical needs, the effects on Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical needed to be taken into account.

“I’d love to see our leadership, with LDCFM, being a part of the conversation,” Willey said.

County Commissioner Patrick Kelly said that he too would like the county to have a seat at the table when KU and its development partners are working with Lawrence city officials.

“The services that we provide are very under the radar,” Kelly said. “… The only direction that I would have at this point is to involve (County Administrator Sarah Plinsky), or her designee, in some of those meetings … especially around fire and medical. I think that’s my biggest concern.”

DeWitt said he would follow up on this matter with Lawrence City Manager Craig Owens next week.

County Commissioner Gene Dorsey also asked DeWitt if a timeline had been established for the second phase of the project. DeWitt said that would depend on how fast the city and KU agree on financing, which he hopes could be done by the end of the year.

City commissioners voted last week to create two key taxing districts for the project: a STAR Bond district and a tax increment financing district. This would be the first use of a STAR Bond in Lawrence, and it would allow new sales tax revenue generated at the stadium — and at most locations across the Lawrence campus — to be used to fund infrastructure for the Gateway project. A third taxing district, called a Community Improvement District, will still need to be voted on by the City Commission. It would impose a new 2% special sales tax on all purchases made at the stadium and across the KU campus, and it is expected to go before the City Commission in July and August.

If everything goes smoothly, DeWitt said construction for the second phase could start as early as the end of the calendar year and take about two years to complete.

Dorsey asked whether that meant construction might be happening during the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the Kansas City area.

“We’re working that out too,” DeWitt said to Dorsey. “… You’ve nailed another challenge of the development.”

In other business, county commissioners:

• Revised a parking lot maintenance project budget to add $72,290 to a large parking lot resurfacing project involving three parking lots at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, Juvenile Detention Center and the Human Services Facility.

According to a memo in the agenda, milling at the fairgrounds revealed hidden base issues not found in earlier core samples of the parking lot. This raised the total project budget to $554,222, and commissioners also authorized an additional 10% authority of the project cost to the county administrator to address any other issues that may come up during the construction process.

• Approved a comprehensive plan amendment to Plan 2040, a joint plan with the county and City of Lawrence outlining a vision for the future of the community. The amendment revised the future land use designation for 909 and 913 Tennessee St. to high-density residential.

• Held a work session with the Public Works department. This year, county departments have been providing an overview of their operations and services to the County Commission.