photo by: Mike Yoder

Jim Modig, who retired as the University of Kansas' architect in early January, gave a tour of campus on Jan. 22, 2021, outlining some of his favorite campus projects and buildings.

The University of Kansas’ Learned Hall and the Earth, Energy and Environment Center are connected by a glass walkway over Naismith Drive. It’s a detail passersby likely notice, but one whose significance might not always be understood.

Jim Modig, KU’s previous university architect, explained that it’s a path of accessibility to help people move vertically on a hilly part of the campus. A person in a wheelchair, for instance, could enter Learned Hall at the ground level, take an elevator to the fourth floor, cross the bridge to the Earth, Energy and Environment Center and exit that building on the same level as Jayhawk Boulevard.

“What we’re trying to do is make it easy to move throughout campus,” Modig said. “The planning is not just what you see in the buildings but how it responds to the students and the faculty and the staff that have to live here day to day.”

Modig knows what it’s like to live on campus. He graduated from KU’s architecture program in 1973 and was then hired to work at the university six years later. He first served as director of design and construction management for 30 years and then as the university architect for the past 11. After a 41-year career at KU, Modig retired on Jan. 8.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Former university architect Jim Modig is pictured on Jan. 22, 2021, outside of the Earth, Energy and Environment Center. He said it was one of his favorite buildings he helped create.

Douglas Girod, KU’s chancellor, wrote in a campus message that Modig is respected across the state for his talent, love of KU and the way he treats those around him.

“No matter how tight the deadline or how challenging the assignment, Jim approached his work with an easy-going manner and thoughtfulness that benefitted the project and those with whom he worked,” Girod wrote. “It has been a privilege to work with him, and KU is a better place because of him.”

Modig took a break from his retirement to give a tour of campus to the Journal-World on Jan. 22, focusing on his favorite buildings and projects.

He started on Memorial Drive by the Campanile Bell Tower. On either side of the tower are two natural, park-like green spaces: Marvin Grove and the Potter Lake area.

“These are green spaces that you won’t find on many campuses,” Modig said. “This is unique to KU, and that’s a green space that I think is treasured and one that we need to kind of protect.”

photo by: Mike Yoder

Jim Modig said the University of Kansas’ Marvin Grove and Potter Lake areas are unique spaces that should be treasured and protected.

The Memorial Drive reconstruction project, which took place in 2016, has provided more pedestrian traffic to the area and “it really allows people to interact with the landscape,” Modig said. The project included slope stabilization, new sidewalks and drainage improvements. It also removed parking from both sides of the road so that parking now exists only on the side closest to Jayhawk Boulevard.

“By pushing (the parking) into the hillside, if you’re on top of the hill, you’re looking over the top of the cars. You’re viewing this here,” Modig said, motioning to Marvin Grove, “which gives you a much more beautiful campus.”

photo by: Mike Yoder

The removal of parking from the north side of Memorial Drive helped provide a more beautiful and unobstructed view of the Potter Lake and Marvin Grove areas, according to former university architect Jim Modig.

On Jayhawk Boulevard, Modig first stopped to discuss something that could not be seen: tunnels that were updated about 10 years ago to carry steam, electric, voice and data lines. The Journal-World joined Modig inside the tunnels in 2008 to hear about the $8.8 million project.

Modig said infrastructure improvements are of major importance in keeping the campus functioning, so even though they can’t be seen, “I take some pride in helping deal with that.”

photo by: Mike Yoder/Journal-World File Photo

In this Journal-World file photo from 2008, Jim Modig is pictured in a 400-foot-long steam tunnel below the University of Kansas campus.

Another of Modig’s favorite accomplishments was the four-year redesign of Jayhawk Boulevard, which began in 2013. The university added storm sewers, removed parallel parking off the street, increased the size of crosswalks and replanted a variety of trees — mostly elms — so the historic boulevard would one day have another natural covering. (The street used to have an elm tree canopy, but Dutch elm disease killed most of the trees in the mid-1970s.)

photo by: University of Kansas Archives

This photo from the University of Kansas’ archives shows how the elm canopy over Jayhawk Boulevard looked in the 1950s. By the mid-1970s, dutch elm disease had killed most of the trees alongside the road.

Along the boulevard, Modig pointed out the recent renovation of Stauffer-Flint Hall, discussed the need to renovate the stairs outside of Marvin Hall and laughed when asked if Wescoe Hall was his favorite building. (It’s close to the bottom of his list of favorites, he said.)

Outside Budig Hall, Modig said he remembered getting a call in June of 1991 alerting him that the building, then known as Hoch Auditorium, had caught fire. The building was stabilized, they dealt with contaminated materials, and eventually they were able to restore the north end of the facility.

When asked about what it’s like to lose a building as an architect, Modig said, “I’m going to be kind of weird about it, but it’s like one of your kids. It’s a facility that you’re caring for, that you’re the steward of.”

Modig was able to care for and create a variety of buildings during his career at KU, which is part of the reason he enjoyed his job so much.

“I would have never guessed that I would still be here after 41 years,” he said. “In the architectural profession, if you’re with a firm for five years, that’s a long time.”

photo by: Mike Yoder

Jim Modig discussed the University of Kansas’ Jayhawk Boulevard redesign.

But working at KU gave Modig the opportunity to have “a number of firsts.” Some architectural firms specialize in a certain area like science facilities or student life facilities, Modig said. But Modig got to build a performing arts facility, student recreational facility and modern buildings like the Earth, Energy and Environment Center, which is one of his favorites.

“So every building that you look at, you haven’t designed a dozen of them in the past. You only do one at a time,” Modig said. “It’s added some variety to my experience that I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.”

Modig said he is interested to see how KU will adapt architecturally following the COVID-19 pandemic. The switch to virtual learning will likely change the way universities approach the classroom, he said, and there will be a need to modernize classrooms to meet current and future models of education.

But Modig will leave that up to KU’s new university architect, Mark Reiske. Meanwhile, he’ll be enjoying retirement. And by that, of course, he means he’ll be doing some foundational repairs and roofing back at home.