photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

Green Hall, with Allen Fieldhouse in the background, is pictured on April 14, 2023.

The University of Kansas is exploring a $40 million plan to move its law school into historic Lippincott Hall along Jayhawk Boulevard.

The plan would move the law school out of Green Hall, a 1970s-era building that is just north of the athletic complex that includes Allen Fieldhouse and Anschutz Sports Pavilion. KU officials haven’t said what they would do with Green Hall, but the university also is in the planning stages to tear down much of the Jayhawker Towers student living complex, which is just north of the law school building.

Both the law school and Jayhawker Towers projects were included in a new document submitted to the Kansas Board of Regents. The Regents at their meeting on Wednesday will be asked to add both projects to KU’s five-year capital improvement plan. The inclusion of the projects on the CIP does not ensure they will move forward. Rather, state policies require any major building projects that KU hopes to raise money to build be included on the five-year planning document. Thus, the CIP serves as a good indication of what KU leaders hope to build.

Available details about the project are sparse. A spokesman with the Kansas Board of Regents said KU has not yet filed “program statements” for either project, which would provide a look at KU’s preliminary plans.

A spokeswoman for the chancellor’s office was unavailable for comment on Friday, and a spokeswoman with the KU School of Law referred questions to Dean Stephen Mazza. An attempt to reach Mazza on Friday wasn’t immediately successful.

The Lippincott Hall project would involve a move up the hill for the law school — and a return to its roots. Lippincott Hall is located along Jayhawk Boulevard and served as a home for the law school in the early 1900s. In fact, Lippincott originally was named Green Hall, in honor of the law school’s founding dean. It did not become Lippincott Hall until 1978, when the new law school building was constructed on the southern end of KU’s main Lawrence campus.

The CIP document estimates the cost to renovate Lippincott Hall to accommodate the law school would be $40 million. The plan doesn’t provide details on how the project would be paid for, other than to say it would be a mix of private gifts, university funds and student fees. The plan lists the project largely taking place in fiscal years 2026 and 2027, although it has been common for the timelines on CIP projects to get pushed back as the university works to raise funds.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

KU’s Lippincott Hall is pictured on April 14, 2023.

As for the Jayhawker Towers project, that demolition would continue a recent trend of the university razing buildings that are in need of significant maintenance work. Regents officials, for financial reasons, have been pressuring the state’s public universities to reduce the number of buildings they are required to maintain.

The CIP calls for $1.2 million of demolition work in fiscal year 2025, which begins in July of 2024. The plan calls for Towers B and C and a smaller Building E to be demolished. KU’s student housing website reports that apartments in Towers B and C have not been available to rent since the fall of 2022.

The Jayhawker Towers complex was built in 1967 as privately owned student housing, but KU acquired the apartments in 1981. When fully in use, the four towers contained a total of about 300 apartments housing two to four people each.

The law school and Jayhawker Towers projects are among 37 projects KU has listed on its five-year plan for Regents to consider. However, most have been on the plan for years. Among the other new additions to the plan this year is a $2 million renovation project for the Kansas Geological Survey building, which is located on KU’s West Campus. That project is tentatively slated for fiscal year 2025.

photo by: Chad Lawhorn/Journal-World

The Jayhawker Towers apartment complex is pictured on April 14, 2023.

Several large projects that have been in the news remain on KU’s five-year list. They include:

• $335 million for the gateway project at 11th and Mississippi streets. That project includes renovations to the KU football stadium, plus the creation of a new conference/convention center and possibly a hotel, among other amenities. The plan shows KU intends to wrap up spending on the project in fiscal year 2025.

• $225 million for a Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center. KU operates the state’s law enforcement training center, which is located in Hutchinson. The plan shows $15 million of spending this fiscal year, with the remainder stretching into fiscal year 2029.

• $198 million for an integrated science building, which would not begin in earnest until fiscal year 2026 and would be completed in fiscal year 2028.

• $49 million for renovations to Allen Fieldhouse, which KU Athletics formally announced earlier this year.

• $22 million for renovations to Hoglund Ballpark, which is home to the KU baseball program. That project is listed as taking place in fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

• $42 million for a new wellness center that would provide student health services. That project shows up both in the current fiscal year and in fiscal year 2025.

• $30.5 million for a new student success center that would provide a new home for advising and other departments that work directly with students. That project primarily shows up in fiscal years 2025 and 2026.