photo by: Shawn Valverde

About a dozen tree stumps remain on the lawn of Douglas County's Judicial and Law Enforcement Center, pictured Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.

Recent visitors to downtown Lawrence may have noticed a few things looking different near 11th and Massachusetts streets. The obvious one is the hulking addition taking shape to the south of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center. The more subtle one is the absence of trees on the lawn between the JLEC and the historic Douglas County Courthouse.

About a dozen stumps now dot the once-shady green space, remnants of maples and poplars that the county says died from a lack of water.

“We believe they were all affected by the lack of water since our lawn irrigation is off due to construction,” Jimmy Wilkins, the county’s maintenance, buildings and grounds director, told the Journal-World.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

The green space, with multiple tree stumps, between Douglas County’s Judicial and Law Enforcement Center and the historic courthouse is pictured Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

The green space between Douglas County’s historic courthouse and the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025. The view is looking north toward 11th Street.

The historic courthouse has been undergoing renovations since fall of 2023, including masonry restoration and waterproofing above and below ground, among other improvements. As part of that work, irrigation has been suspended, meaning the trees have gone two summers without the water they are used to.

“We believe their root system was very shallow because they have always had the water provided by the irrigation system,” Wilkins said. “Once that source was removed, they were unable to pull water from deeper in the soil.”

Wilkins said the county would replace the trees in the spring.

“We plan to plant trees that are hardy to the area and are not as vulnerable to water fluctuations,” he said.

One of the larger trees that was removed was a pine tree on the northwest corner of the lawn area, but that removal was due to a fungal disease called pine blight, not water supply, Wilkins said.

“It was determined that due to its size and its age it would have been very difficult if not impossible to treat with any kind of success,” he said.

As for the 158,075-square-foot expansion of the Judicial and Law Enforcement Center east of the historic courthouse, the structural skeleton that was celebrated in August at a “topping-out” ceremony is now sporting walls and windows and a roof. The $81.9 million addition will include six courtrooms with corresponding judges’ chambers, office space for court staff, new holding areas for people in custody attending court, and rooftop solar panels. This phase of the project is scheduled to be completed by next summer; at that point, the current JLEC will undergo a series of modernizing renovations.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

The addition on the south side of Douglas County’s Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.

photo by: Shawn Valverde

The addition on the south side of Douglas County’s Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured Tuesday, Nov. 25, 2025.