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Inconsistencies create questions in audit By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Lawrence City Hall officials are acknowledging that an audit report that gave the city glowing reviews on the controversial Rock Chalk Park project has errors related to concrete used in the no-bid construction project. But city officials, after reviewing additional documen-
tation in their files, said they were confident the errors would not change the report’s main finding that city taxpayers had gotten a good value. “What I want the public to know is we looked at all of the batch tickets we have in our possession and they show that more concrete was delivered than what we paid for, and we paid appropriately for what was actually installed,” City
Manager David questions beCorliss said. fore placing The city still the payment has an approxion a future city mately $1 milagenda. lion payment “It is impordue to the intant to me that frastructure we defer the contractors on final payment Amyx the project, but Corliss until we can Mayor Mike say we underAmyx said he wants more in- stand every bit of this,” Amyx formation about the latest said.
The appeal of Allen Fieldhouse
Questions about the audit by Tennessee-based McDonald & Associates came to light after the Journal-World conducted a brief review of the working papers of the city-hired auditor, who delivered his report on Monday. The Journal-World found several questionable numbers or entries in a spreadsheet that provided informaPlease see PARK, page 8A
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WARREN CORMAN, ONE OF THE ARCHITECTS WHO DESIGNED ALLEN FIELDHOUSE, is part of the history of the iconic building, which turns 60 this year.
Architect’s vision part of iconic building’s beauty H
ere’s the thing about Allen Fieldhouse: It is hard to pinpoint why it is so beautiful. Sure, a lot of winning basketball certainly has helped, but that’s not what has turned the building into a revered icon. Lots of schools have won lots of basketball games, and then turned around and torn down their old gyms and replaced them with something newer and fancier. But as Allen Fieldhouse celebrates its 60th birthday this year, that’s obviously not been the fate of the old barn. Warren Corman, the longtime former architect for Kansas University, said it has never even been seriously mentioned on
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Mt. Oread. “I think we probably would have shot and buried them on campus if they ever suggested it,” Corman says. The building has a special place in the hearts of many people, but especially Corman. He’s the last living member of the team of state architects who designed the building. So, he’s as good as anyone to help me figure out just what it is about Allen’s beauty that has allowed it to stand the test of time. I have my guesses. The windows would be near the top of the list. Rays of sunshine on a Saturday afternoon, streaming across a row of banners, is beautiful indeed.
Lawhorn’s Lawrence
Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Or maybe it’s just how the perfectly organized bleachers frame the hardwood court like a fine piece of art. I don’t know. My inability to draw a stick figure dashed my dreams of being an architect long ago. But
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By Chad Lawhorn clawhorn@ljworld.com
Corman knows. He can reveal that critical detail that makes the place so special. The women’s restrooms. Pardon? I’ve been assured there aren’t gold-plated trays of chocolate bars in there or anything. But there are a lot of toilets. A lot more than there are in the men’s restrooms, and Corman said that is the detail of Allen Fieldhouse he is proudest of. In the 1990s when Allen Fieldhouse was getting a renovation, he successfully lobbied that the women’s restrooms
The remaining candidates for the Lawrence City Commission differed Saturday on just how pro-business Lawrence is these days. At a forum sponsored by the Lawrence chamber of commerce and the Voter Education Coalition, candidates were asked to rank Lawrence’s business environment on a scale of 1 to 10. City Commissioner Bob Schumm gave it the highest score possible, a 10, saying the city has “gone out of its way” to support businesses that want to grow and expand in the city. Other candidates ranked it as low as a 5. Matthew Herbert, a Lawrence High School teacher, said he thinks that, through the use of tax incentives, the commission has given some businesses a 10, while giving other businesses a 1. “I don’t think the role of the city commission should be to pick winners and losers,” Herbert said. “Its role should be to provide the infrastructure that gives all businesses a chance to succeed.” Schumm, a retired restaurant owner, said he thinks some candidates aren’t seeing the
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