Melissa Lacey/Journal-World PhotoGov. Bill Graves will get the final say on whether three houses in the Oread neighborhood are demolished.
Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway on Tuesday asked Graves to allow KU to raze the homes to make way for a scholarship hall. Hemenway said KU has “no feasible and prudent alternative to demolition.”
The appeal drew criticism from neighborhood leaders who said they’d been meeting in recent weeks with KU officials and were hoping for a compromise in the dispute that has pitted the two sides for much of the past year.
“We were optimistic we were headed down a path where we could be partners in the process,” said Greg Hickam, president of the Oread Neighborhood Assn. “All I can imagine now is the university isn’t interested in that.”
The neighborhood group has said razing the homes at 1323, 1329 and 1333 Ohio would mar the social fabric of the area and would mark continued encroachment of the university into the neighborhood.
Hemenway’s letter to Graves appeals a March 15 decision by Ramon Powers, then the state historic preservation officer, that prohibited KU from demolishing the homes.
The issue was forwarded to Powers after KU’s Campus Historic Preservation Board and the city’s Historic Resources Commission split on whether to allow the demolition.
The campus board voted in August 2001 to approve demolition. The city board voted against it in September 2001. A joint October 2001 meeting of the groups failed to end the impasse and sent the matter to the Powers.
The boards were required to consider the demolition plan because the homes are within 500 feet of two properties on the National Register of Historic Places Spooner Hall at KU and the Usher House, 1425 Tenn., which is now Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Powers cited only the Usher House in his decision.
KU Endowment Association officials, who bought the homes in October 2000 before the properties were transferred to KU in February 2001, have said they have a couple willing to donate the $2 million to $3 million required to build a scholarship hall.
James Modig, KU’s director of design and construction management, said the university someday would like to construct a second scholarship hall on the block. The university and the Endowment Association own five other houses on the block.
KU officials have maintained the century-old homes are too deteriorated to restore.
“The houses are in pretty bad shape,” Modig said. “I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of other options available. We’re wanting scholarship halls, and that’s a prime location for them. It’s one of those tough positions.”
Kristin Heuertz, a Graves spokeswoman, said the governor has no time frame for deciding the issue.
“Basically, it’s just however long it’s going to take to get the information,” she said. “I can’t imagine it’s going to be six months. I’d say it’ll be sooner rather than later.”
Heuertz said she didn’t know what process Graves would take to gather information. But she noted that he can factor in issues other than the demolitions’ effect on the neighborhood’s history.
“That’s basically all the historical society can take into account,” she said. “We can take more things into consideration than the historical society, like the safety issues of the houses, costs to renovate versus costs to bring houses down and the need for housing for the university.”
Hemenway wrote in his letter that KU would seek community input on the scholarship hall design, would make efforts to minimize disruption during demolition and construction and would design a hall that is compatible with the neighborhood.
“If you take a look at the Amini scholarship halls (on Louisiana Street), that is probably a step closer to residential style than what you see in a fraternity or sorority,” Modig said. “I think there’s probably another step that can be taken to break up the massing of the building and make it more appropriate architecture.”
But Hickam said neighborhood residents weren’t convinced that could be done. He said part of residents’ concern was that KU hasn’t presented designs for the scholarship hall.
“We had certainly hoped all along the university would simply make some specific plans for replacement structures, but they resisted that,” he said. “Certainly if they were to demolish the houses that were there and replace them with large-scale institutional architecture, we feel that would be incredibly detrimental to the neighborhood. It would change the look and feel of that block.”
Melissa Lacey/Journal-World PhotoGov. Bill Graves will get the final say on whether three houses in the Oread neighborhood are demolished.
Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway on Tuesday asked Graves to allow KU to raze the homes to make way for a scholarship hall. Hemenway said KU has “no feasible and prudent alternative to demolition.”
The appeal drew criticism from neighborhood leaders who said they’d been meeting in recent weeks with KU officials and were hoping for a compromise in the dispute that has pitted the two sides for much of the past year.
“We were optimistic we were headed down a path where we could be partners in the process,” said Greg Hickam, president of the Oread Neighborhood Assn. “All I can imagine now is the university isn’t interested in that.”
The neighborhood group has said razing the homes at 1323, 1329 and 1333 Ohio would mar the social fabric of the area and would mark continued encroachment of the university into the neighborhood.
Hemenway’s letter to Graves appeals a March 15 decision by Ramon Powers, then the state historic preservation officer, that prohibited KU from demolishing the homes.
The issue was forwarded to Powers after KU’s Campus Historic Preservation Board and the city’s Historic Resources Commission split on whether to allow the demolition.
The campus board voted in August 2001 to approve demolition. The city board voted against it in September 2001. A joint October 2001 meeting of the groups failed to end the impasse and sent the matter to the Powers.
The boards were required to consider the demolition plan because the homes are within 500 feet of two properties on the National Register of Historic Places Spooner Hall at KU and the Usher House, 1425 Tenn., which is now Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Powers cited only the Usher House in his decision.
KU Endowment Association officials, who bought the homes in October 2000 before the properties were transferred to KU in February 2001, have said they have a couple willing to donate the $2 million to $3 million required to build a scholarship hall.
James Modig, KU’s director of design and construction management, said the university someday would like to construct a second scholarship hall on the block. The university and the Endowment Association own five other houses on the block.
KU officials have maintained the century-old homes are too deteriorated to restore.
“The houses are in pretty bad shape,” Modig said. “I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of other options available. We’re wanting scholarship halls, and that’s a prime location for them. It’s one of those tough positions.”
Kristin Heuertz, a Graves spokeswoman, said the governor has no time frame for deciding the issue.
“Basically, it’s just however long it’s going to take to get the information,” she said. “I can’t imagine it’s going to be six months. I’d say it’ll be sooner rather than later.”
Heuertz said she didn’t know what process Graves would take to gather information. But she noted that he can factor in issues other than the demolitions’ effect on the neighborhood’s history.
“That’s basically all the historical society can take into account,” she said. “We can take more things into consideration than the historical society, like the safety issues of the houses, costs to renovate versus costs to bring houses down and the need for housing for the university.”
Hemenway wrote in his letter that KU would seek community input on the scholarship hall design, would make efforts to minimize disruption during demolition and construction and would design a hall that is compatible with the neighborhood.
“If you take a look at the Amini scholarship halls (on Louisiana Street), that is probably a step closer to residential style than what you see in a fraternity or sorority,” Modig said. “I think there’s probably another step that can be taken to break up the massing of the building and make it more appropriate architecture.”
But Hickam said neighborhood residents weren’t convinced that could be done. He said part of residents’ concern was that KU hasn’t presented designs for the scholarship hall.
“We had certainly hoped all along the university would simply make some specific plans for replacement structures, but they resisted that,” he said. “Certainly if they were to demolish the houses that were there and replace them with large-scale institutional architecture, we feel that would be incredibly detrimental to the neighborhood. It would change the look and feel of that block.”
Melissa Lacey/Journal-World PhotoGov. Bill Graves will get the final say on whether three houses in the Oread neighborhood are demolished.
Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway on Tuesday asked Graves to allow KU to raze the homes to make way for a scholarship hall. Hemenway said KU has “no feasible and prudent alternative to demolition.”
The appeal drew criticism from neighborhood leaders who said they’d been meeting in recent weeks with KU officials and were hoping for a compromise in the dispute that has pitted the two sides for much of the past year.
“We were optimistic we were headed down a path where we could be partners in the process,” said Greg Hickam, president of the Oread Neighborhood Assn. “All I can imagine now is the university isn’t interested in that.”
The neighborhood group has said razing the homes at 1323, 1329 and 1333 Ohio would mar the social fabric of the area and would mark continued encroachment of the university into the neighborhood.
Hemenway’s letter to Graves appeals a March 15 decision by Ramon Powers, then the state historic preservation officer, that prohibited KU from demolishing the homes.
The issue was forwarded to Powers after KU’s Campus Historic Preservation Board and the city’s Historic Resources Commission split on whether to allow the demolition.
The campus board voted in August 2001 to approve demolition. The city board voted against it in September 2001. A joint October 2001 meeting of the groups failed to end the impasse and sent the matter to the Powers.
The boards were required to consider the demolition plan because the homes are within 500 feet of two properties on the National Register of Historic Places Spooner Hall at KU and the Usher House, 1425 Tenn., which is now Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Powers cited only the Usher House in his decision.
KU Endowment Association officials, who bought the homes in October 2000 before the properties were transferred to KU in February 2001, have said they have a couple willing to donate the $2 million to $3 million required to build a scholarship hall.
James Modig, KU’s director of design and construction management, said the university someday would like to construct a second scholarship hall on the block. The university and the Endowment Association own five other houses on the block.
KU officials have maintained the century-old homes are too deteriorated to restore.
“The houses are in pretty bad shape,” Modig said. “I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of other options available. We’re wanting scholarship halls, and that’s a prime location for them. It’s one of those tough positions.”
Kristin Heuertz, a Graves spokeswoman, said the governor has no time frame for deciding the issue.
“Basically, it’s just however long it’s going to take to get the information,” she said. “I can’t imagine it’s going to be six months. I’d say it’ll be sooner rather than later.”
Heuertz said she didn’t know what process Graves would take to gather information. But she noted that he can factor in issues other than the demolitions’ effect on the neighborhood’s history.
“That’s basically all the historical society can take into account,” she said. “We can take more things into consideration than the historical society, like the safety issues of the houses, costs to renovate versus costs to bring houses down and the need for housing for the university.”
Hemenway wrote in his letter that KU would seek community input on the scholarship hall design, would make efforts to minimize disruption during demolition and construction and would design a hall that is compatible with the neighborhood.
“If you take a look at the Amini scholarship halls (on Louisiana Street), that is probably a step closer to residential style than what you see in a fraternity or sorority,” Modig said. “I think there’s probably another step that can be taken to break up the massing of the building and make it more appropriate architecture.”
But Hickam said neighborhood residents weren’t convinced that could be done. He said part of residents’ concern was that KU hasn’t presented designs for the scholarship hall.
“We had certainly hoped all along the university would simply make some specific plans for replacement structures, but they resisted that,” he said. “Certainly if they were to demolish the houses that were there and replace them with large-scale institutional architecture, we feel that would be incredibly detrimental to the neighborhood. It would change the look and feel of that block.”
Melissa Lacey/Journal-World PhotoGov. Bill Graves will get the final say on whether three houses in the Oread neighborhood are demolished.
Kansas University Chancellor Robert Hemenway on Tuesday asked Graves to allow KU to raze the homes to make way for a scholarship hall. Hemenway said KU has “no feasible and prudent alternative to demolition.”
The appeal drew criticism from neighborhood leaders who said they’d been meeting in recent weeks with KU officials and were hoping for a compromise in the dispute that has pitted the two sides for much of the past year.
“We were optimistic we were headed down a path where we could be partners in the process,” said Greg Hickam, president of the Oread Neighborhood Assn. “All I can imagine now is the university isn’t interested in that.”
The neighborhood group has said razing the homes at 1323, 1329 and 1333 Ohio would mar the social fabric of the area and would mark continued encroachment of the university into the neighborhood.
Hemenway’s letter to Graves appeals a March 15 decision by Ramon Powers, then the state historic preservation officer, that prohibited KU from demolishing the homes.
The issue was forwarded to Powers after KU’s Campus Historic Preservation Board and the city’s Historic Resources Commission split on whether to allow the demolition.
The campus board voted in August 2001 to approve demolition. The city board voted against it in September 2001. A joint October 2001 meeting of the groups failed to end the impasse and sent the matter to the Powers.
The boards were required to consider the demolition plan because the homes are within 500 feet of two properties on the National Register of Historic Places Spooner Hall at KU and the Usher House, 1425 Tenn., which is now Beta Theta Pi fraternity. Powers cited only the Usher House in his decision.
KU Endowment Association officials, who bought the homes in October 2000 before the properties were transferred to KU in February 2001, have said they have a couple willing to donate the $2 million to $3 million required to build a scholarship hall.
James Modig, KU’s director of design and construction management, said the university someday would like to construct a second scholarship hall on the block. The university and the Endowment Association own five other houses on the block.
KU officials have maintained the century-old homes are too deteriorated to restore.
“The houses are in pretty bad shape,” Modig said. “I’m not sure there’s a whole lot of other options available. We’re wanting scholarship halls, and that’s a prime location for them. It’s one of those tough positions.”
Kristin Heuertz, a Graves spokeswoman, said the governor has no time frame for deciding the issue.
“Basically, it’s just however long it’s going to take to get the information,” she said. “I can’t imagine it’s going to be six months. I’d say it’ll be sooner rather than later.”
Heuertz said she didn’t know what process Graves would take to gather information. But she noted that he can factor in issues other than the demolitions’ effect on the neighborhood’s history.
“That’s basically all the historical society can take into account,” she said. “We can take more things into consideration than the historical society, like the safety issues of the houses, costs to renovate versus costs to bring houses down and the need for housing for the university.”
Hemenway wrote in his letter that KU would seek community input on the scholarship hall design, would make efforts to minimize disruption during demolition and construction and would design a hall that is compatible with the neighborhood.
“If you take a look at the Amini scholarship halls (on Louisiana Street), that is probably a step closer to residential style than what you see in a fraternity or sorority,” Modig said. “I think there’s probably another step that can be taken to break up the massing of the building and make it more appropriate architecture.”
But Hickam said neighborhood residents weren’t convinced that could be done. He said part of residents’ concern was that KU hasn’t presented designs for the scholarship hall.
“We had certainly hoped all along the university would simply make some specific plans for replacement structures, but they resisted that,” he said. “Certainly if they were to demolish the houses that were there and replace them with large-scale institutional architecture, we feel that would be incredibly detrimental to the neighborhood. It would change the look and feel of that block.”
