KU will soon start football stadium renovations. How are the Jayhawks paying for it?
By the end of the year, the University of Kansas will begin construction on a more than $300 million project to renovate the school’s football stadium and the area around it.
University officials are still working to raise another $135 million for the project.
In a release Tuesday, university officials said they planned to open the new stadium in time for the 2025 college football season. The “Kansas Gateway District” will ultimately include a new convention center near the stadium as well as a multi-use space to house restaurants, retail, lodging, offices and “arts and entertainment.”
Most of the funding will be dedicated to the football stadium and “Gateway” project, while $50 million will go to Allen Fieldhouse renovations.
The university said it planned to primarily use private donors to fund the project and would not use student tuition dollars or the Kansas state general fund, the primary fund of tax revenues which builds the state’s yearly budget.
If the university fails to meet its fundraising goal, KU still has a plan in place, according to Kansas athletic director Travis Goff.
“To emphasize also that (donor funding is) the primary funding vehicle,” Goff said, “(KU) Athletics if needed can borrow against the project and borrow against future revenues that the project will drive that allows us to invest in an even higher level to see this through. The final maybe comment to that is what we’ve built today achieves approximately 70% of a new facility. We have work to do to tackle the east and kind of of that connectivity to the south (to) finish this whole vision.”
Here are the financial components going into the project and how the university plans to raise the remainder.
Government spending
Though the university said it used no state general fund dollars to finance the project, $85 million in government spending will be used.
That funding includes a $50 million grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce and $35 million in federal COVID-19 relief dollars. The government funds will be focused on the portions of the project aimed at economic development, such as the convention center and multi-use spaces, rather than the new stadium itself.
Last year, Kansas lawmakers allocated $75 million to the Kansas Department of Commerce to create the University Challenge Grant Program using federal COVID-19 relief dollars. The program provides matching funds to Kansas colleges pursuing economic development funds.
In February the agency announced recipients, including $50 million for the University of Kansas.
The Legislature also allocated $35 million to the university last year from the $1.2 billion sent to the state through the American Rescue Plan Act. The American Rescue Plan ACT was a COVID-19 relief package signed by President Joe Biden. The funding for KU was earmarked for economic development.
At an event announcing the project’s timeline, KU chancellor Douglas Girod said the two pots of money allocated by the Legislature last year were important “to really kick off this program.”
Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly presented the project as an extension of her administration’s focus on economic development and job growth, bringing 720 jobs to Lawrence and the potential for national and regional conventions.
“These new and improved facilities will benefit not only KU, by increasing student enrollment and attracting new visitors to campus, but also the surrounding community and our entire state,” Kelly said. “More talented students graduating from KU means more talented people entering the Kansas workforce.”
Fundraising
Thus far, the University has raised $165 million of its $300 million funding goal, officials said.
Around $125 million of that fundraising has come since the project was announced last year. David Booth, a KU alumnus and donor, announced in 2017 he would give the university $50 million for the new stadium. The donation was spread out into $10 million installments per year.
KU officials said the university was still working to raise the additional $135 million to reach their goal.
“The total goal from a fundraising perspective is $300 million, of which about 250 is allocated for this project remaining and 50 is focused on Allen Fieldhouse renovations that are underway,” Goff said. “We’re not going to just hit 300 — we’re going to surpass it. So, that’s (what) it’s going to take, and we have great confidence in our momentum and fundraising perspective of the way our supporters have stepped up.”
This story was originally published August 15, 2023 at 7:00 PM.
