photo by: University of Kansas

Marvin Hall on the University of Kansas campus.

The University of Kansas has plans for a $120 million expansion of its architecture and design school, and hopes to win $10 million in state funding next year to spur the project.

KU leaders will seek permission from the Kansas Board of Regents this week to ask for that state funding, and also will brief the Regents on a variety of other potential building projects — including a new parking garage for the area near KU’s renovated football stadium.

KU officials have told the Regents that it wants to undertake a 50,000-square-foot expansion of Marvin Hall in the near future. Marvin Hall, located at the west end of Jayhawk Boulevard, houses the KU School of Architecture & Design. Concept plans call for the addition to the 1909 limestone building to house new architecture and design studio space, plus a significant amount of maker-type spaces, which would include equipment needed to turn product ideas into prototypes.

KU is asking the Board of Regents — which oversees all state universities — to include the $10 million funding request in its list of projects and initiatives for the Kansas Legislature to consider when it convenes in January.

The Regents will consider KU’s request at their Wednesday meeting in Topeka. KU also will present its 10-year master plan to the Regents for review. That master plan also includes details about the proposed architecture and design school project. Additionally, KU Chancellor Douglas Girod has been communicating with the Regents about the project.

According to documents provided to the Regents, Girod has said the project would include two additional phases that would take place after the 50,000-square-foot expansion. Girod envisions a project to renovate 38,000 square feet of existing space inside Marvin Hall. The third and final phase would involve renovating 59,000 square feet inside Chalmers Hall, which is also currently used to house activities for the architecture and design school. Chalmers Hall, a building that opened in 1978, is just south of Marvin Hall.

While KU is seeking $10 million from the Kansas Legislature, it intends to also raise private donations for the project, and also may rely on student fees and other university funds to build the project, according to the recently-complete master plan. The master plan notes that KU’s School of Architecture & Design currently is located in seven different locations on the KU campus. The project would seek to bring most, if not all, of the school’s activities to the west end of Jayhawk Boulevard in Marvin and Chalmers halls.

A firm timeline for the project hasn’t been developed. Beyond the state funding issue, KU still needs multiple approvals from the Regents before any project could begin. However, if legislators show interest in providing the $10 million in state funding, KU likely would begin the process of receiving necessary Regents approval in early to mid-2025.

A firm cost for the project also hasn’t been developed. The master plan lists the project at $120 million. But information from Girod to Regents also has listed the project at $150 million.

Regents at their Wednesday meeting will receive an overview of KU’s recently-completed 10-year master plan. That document provides new details on several potential building projects that KU leaders have been contemplating. Here’s a look at several of the projects, many of which have been previously reported on by the Journal-World:

• The master plan recommends the construction of a new parking garage to serve the renovated David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, and any future retail or office development that may occur in the Gateway District that KU plans to develop around the stadium.

The master plan doesn’t provide key details, such as how large the parking garage should be. It does say it should be a multi-deck structure that can serve a variety of uses beyond football games.

“The northern edge of the KU campus provides a unique opportunity for a multi-level deck serving Memorial Stadium and its Conference Center as well as the North District,” the master plan reads. “Parking access points should be located to minimize traffic impacts to residential neighborhoods.”

The master plan recommends two sites, both previously reported by the Journal-World, to receive further study as possible locations for the new parking garage. Lots 50 and 52 are behind Joseph R. Pearson Hall, which houses the School of Education and sits on the hilltop west of the football stadium. A garage on that location would have access on both 11th Street and West Campus Road, according to the master plan.

The second location for study is lots 92 and 94, which are the large parking lots just east of the football stadium. How much of those lots would be available for a parking garage is partially dependent on what other type of uses the university may propose for the area around the stadium. KU has talked about a hotel, retail, restaurants, health care and student housing developing around the stadium, with much of it slated for those two parking lots east of the stadium.

The master plan doesn’t set a timeline for when the parking garage should be constructed, nor does it list a price for the project.

photo by: University of Kansas

Green Hall on the University of Kansas campus.

• The master plan lists two locations for an expanded building for the KU School of Law. As the Journal-World has reported, one of the locations is Lippincott Hall on Jayhawk Boulevard. The building served as the original home for the law school.

However, the master plan also is recommending that KU leaders seriously consider renovating Green Hall, which is the law school’s current home on the south end of campus. The 1977 building needs significant exterior improvements to stop degradation, and the interior needs major upgrades, the master plan states.

The interior needs “updates to accommodate 21st-century law education, as well as help continue to attract students in a competitive market,” the master plan states. The plan found that moving the law school to Lippincott would require an addition to the 1905 building, and would involve “significant building system and accessibility upgrades.”

The master plan lists the law school project at $40 million. KU hopes to make decisions about the project in the current fiscal year, which runs through June, the plan said.

• The plan also suggests two locations be studied for a new Student Academic Success Center, which would house academic advisors and other such services. One location for the center is Smith Hall. That space at 1300 Oread Avenue — across the street from the Kansas Union — once was on the list of buildings that KU proposed to demolish because maintenance costs had become too high.

The other space that should be studied as as location for the center is Anschutz Library, the plan said. The library, which is just south of Jayhawk Boulevard, has underutilized space that could house the student center, the plan said.

• The master plan recommends a $15 million project at the Robinson Center to convert existing locker rooms, racquetball courts and a gymnasium into space that can be used for the university’s various ROTC programs. The plan calls for the project to be completed by 2026.

• The plan recommends a $25 million renovation of Lindley Hall. The 1943 building on Jayhawk Boulevard would receive new HVAC and elevator systems, and updated classrooms, common spaces and other such areas. KU hopes to have the project completed by the fall of 2026.

• The plan calls for a $15 million project to renovate Twente Hall. The 1932 building at 1545 Lilac Lane, houses KU’s School of Social Welfare. The master plan says the school of social welfare would relocate to the third floor of Green Hall, which houses the law school. It is unclear whether the social welfare school would move back to Twente Hall after renovations, or whether the school would be incorporated into a larger project involving the law school. The master plan suggests it could be beneficial for the social welfare and law schools to be in the same building.

“The two schools would benefit from programmatic synergies and improved connections if co-located in Green Hall for the longer term,” the plan says.

The Twente Hall renovation is expected to be completed by fall 2027, according to the master plan.

photo by: University of Kansas

Twente Hall on the University of Kansas campus.