Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Jayhawker Tower A will be renovated, starting this summer. It will be closed for the 2008-2009 school year.
The renovation, which was scheduled to happen after GSP Hall, was moved up a year.
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After gutting and bidding for architects and builders, the actual renovation will begin in the winter.
Diana Robertson, director of student housing, said that it was in the long-term plan to renovate the Towers, but the plan was accelerated because the student housing was able to do so.
“We are eager to move forward,” Robertson said. “Ultimately, what we’re going to do is get the facilities improved and improve our options for KU students.”
Robertson said that the renovations to Tower A will include the “less glitzy stuff,” including all-new plumbing, wiring, cable and Internet lines.
The standard and instantly-recognizable brick walls will be filled in with drywall, and the lighting will be enhanced.
The furniture and appliances will be new as well.
The renovations will cost $8.1 million and will be paid with state funds.
No structural walls will be removed, and the layout of the apartments will remain the same. Gutting the building, or tearing out all the old wiring, plumbing and other infrastructure, will begin this summer and continue into the fall.
After gutting and bidding for architects and builders, the actual renovation will begin in the winter.
The accelerated project was due in part to the Men’s Basketball team winning the NCAA National Championship. Self had said in some press conferences that he wanted the University to attract other good players.
“Coach Self speaking of that accelerates it without a doubt,” Robertson said.
She said that Self’s desire to see enhanced facilities “happily coincides” with housing’s desire to renovate.
When Tower A is opened, athletes will definitely live in it, Robertson said.
Robertson said that housing would work with the Jayhawker Towers Tenant Association next fall to decide who would live in Tower A.
After Tower A has been renovated, GSP will be next in line. Corbin, the other girls-only residence hall, will not be completely renovated. It will be “restored,” due to the historic nature of the building.
After GSP is finished, Towers B, D and C will be renovated, in that order. Since Tower A housed mainly graduate students and is open year-round, not as much work has been done to keep it up as on the other Towers. The order is based off of how much work has been done since they opened.
The Jayhawker Towers were built in 1967 by the real estate branch of Phillips Petroleum Company. Stanley Yearned, the CEO at the time, was a University of Kansas graduate with a degree in civil engineering.
The University bought the Towers in 1981.
No major overhaul has been done since they opened in 1967 under the Phillips Petroleum Company.
Students who were assigned to live in Tower A next year will be dispersed to other Towers and have been notified.
“We’ll work very hard to make this a minimal disruption to folks,” Robertson said.
Tower B, which has been girls-only, will now house grad students on the two lower floors.
—Edited by Mandy Earles
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