photo by: University of Kansas/Hunden Strategic Partners

A conceptual rendering of how the area around the KU football stadium could develop at 11th and Mississippi streets is shown. Proposals for the site have included a conference center, hotel, retail, restaurants and student housing.

First comes the game plan. Then comes the sprint. That appears to be how the formula is shaping up for a major renovation at KU’s football stadium.

University of Kansas Chancellor Douglas Girod told me in a brief interview that new details about KU’s proposed $300 million-plus renovation of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium — which will include a conference center — are expected by mid-August.

Then, KU has to get very busy, very quickly.

“We are running on a pretty aggressive timeline,” Girod said. “Ideally, we would like to be doing something right after the end of this season. That is an aggressive timeline. We have serious work to do to stay on that timeline.”

Neighbors to the stadium — located at 11th and Mississippi streets — are counting on that work to involve many meetings about what KU envisions for the area, which the university is now calling its Gateway District.

“They are cordial and very kind with their time,” Katy Nitcher, a leader in the Old West Lawrence Neighborhood Association, said of meetings thus far with KU leaders. “But they know more than we do, and there are many things we are still in the dark about.”

Girod said KU understands and appreciates the need to have many communications with neighbors. He said the conversations would be “ongoing,” and KU expects to be in communication with neighbors for a number of years about activity planned at or around the stadium.

That’s because the improvements to the stadium itself are just one element of what KU envisions with a Gateway project. The stadium improvements are expected to included improved seating, concessions, fan amenities and conference or convention center space that would be built into the north bowl of the stadium.

Girod expects “much more detail about what the stadium portion will look like” in mid-August.

“And, hopefully, we will have some philanthropic announcements to make as well,” said Girod, who said fundraising solidly was underway on the project.

Those details will allow KU to get ready for construction after the home football season ends, which is in late November. The improvements to the stadium are expected to take a couple of years to complete, working around when the stadium will be in use.

But KU also envisions a hotel, retail and restaurant space, a medical clinic, student housing and possibly several other amenities that would be constructed with private partners. KU currently is accepting proposals from interested partners. But Girod doesn’t expect more information about that part of the project to be available this month. Instead, the soonest KU leaders would make decisions on what will surround the stadium is in October. Those projects could take many years to come to fruition, depending on financing and how private partners gauge demand in the market.

Thus, that’s why Girod is saying there likely will be years of conversations with neighbors. But make no mistake, the decisions on the football stadium part of the project could happen quickly. There will be some key ones to make.

“We have gotten some really good feedback on what people would like to see there, and obviously, what their concerns are, with parking being No. 1 and traffic being the second one,” Girod said.

Parking issues jumped to the top of the list for many observers after we reported in June that KU’s concept plan for the stadium calls for the entire east parking lot to be filled with new types of development. The concept plan didn’t address where KU might add parking to make up for the losses.

photo by: University of Kansas/Hunden Strategic Partners

A conceptual site plan for how the area around KU’s football stadium at 11th and Mississippi streets could develop is shown.

KU still has not made any decisions about where to build parking, but there are indications KU is studying a pair of sites for new parking garages. One site would be on the west side of Mississippi Street, on or near where the stadium parking lot is now. That site was mentioned in a document from an engineering firm that is in the running to do a traffic impact study for KU. The document didn’t make clear whether the garage would be a new above-ground structure, or whether it would be a below-ground garage beneath some of the contemplated development, such as beneath the hotel or retail spaces.

That same document also mentioned a second site for a parking garage. It would be west of the stadium in an existing parking lot — Lot 52, if you are keeping track — that is behind Joseph R. Pearson Hall. If you are having a hard time picturing the location, JRP is the former dormitory building atop the hill west of the stadium. The building now houses the education school.

The pair of neighborhood leaders I talked to agreed that parking and traffic were common questions among neighbors.

“I think we are generally supportive, but leery,” Kyle Thompson, president of the Oread Residents Association said of the project.

He said in addition to parking and traffic, many neighbors want to make sure that the neighborhood of houses directly north of the stadium remain housing rather than being redeveloped into something else. KU leaders have said their project includes no elements in that neighborhood, but also said they won’t be able to control whether private developers bring forth projects there.

Nitcher agreed that parking, traffic and protection of the housing stock were among the top issues on the minds of neighbors. She also agreed that neighbors are approaching the project with an open mind.

“I would say the majority of people want the project to be successful, they want KU to be successful, and they want to protect their neighborhoods,” Nitcher said.

She said KU will have challenges to make the project work because of its location.

“I’m of the mindset that this a lot of development in a landlocked area where there are only a few streets to get to the site,” Nitcher said.

Girod said KU understands the challenges with the street network.

“We will need to work with the city closely to work on the traffic component,” Girod said.

That could mean significant upgrades to Mississippi Street, and it also could mean major changes for the Ninth Street corridor. A traffic study is expected to provide more details.

Girod also said KU wants to figure out ways to create connections between the stadium area and the downtown.

“We want to make sure this project is additive to downtown, and not subtractive to downtown,” he said.

While KU will be working with the city on issues like those, the stadium project won’t go through the normal approval process at City Hall. Jeff Crick, director of planning and development services for the city, confirmed the project won’t need to win land use approvals from the City Commission or the Planning Commission.

Instead, the project will be governed by an interlocal agreement between the city and KU. That agreement, which dates to the early 2000s, exempts development on university property from going through most of the city’s zoning and land development code process. However, the agreement does recommend that an ad hoc Community Program Advisory Committee be created to hear details of the plans and review an impact statement. The committee would have representatives including nearby property owners, neighborhood association representatives, university officials, and other stakeholders.

The committee will be asked to reach a consensus on the plans. If a consensus can’t be reached, KU’s provost ultimately would have the authority to rule on any disputes.