FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                  
 
 
For more information contact:
Lisa Kring, Director of Event Services
785-864-2420
lkring@ku.edu    
 or
Alek Joyce, Student Senate Outreach Director  
785-864-3710        
ajoyce@ku.edu                                   
 
Kansas Union to Hold Ribbon Cutting Ceremony for Renovated Ballroom
 
February 4, 2013 (LAWRENCE, Kan.) - A ribbon cutting ceremony for the recently renovated Kansas Union Ballroom, 1301 Jayhawk Boulevard, will be held before the Student Senate meeting on Wednesday, February 6, 2013, at 6:00 p.m.  
 
The Ballroom, level five of the Kansas Union, now features a new ceiling, sound system, a two-story backdrop behind the stage, a new entryway and doors, energy efficient lighting and a new hardwood floor.  New walls were also installed on portions of the balcony on the top floor of the Union to allow the rooms to be utilized when events are held in the Ballroom. The project was funded with internal operating funds of the Memorial Union Corporation.
 
The Kansas Union has been a fixture on the Lawrence campus since the original cornerstone was laid in 1926.  Due to a shortage of funds, and the onset of the Great Depression, the interior of the structure was not considered complete until 1938. The Ballroom was first renovated, and expanded, during the early 1950s, after the hiring of Frank Burge as Union Director. On April 20, 1970, during a time of campus unrest, a fire that authorities believed was an act of arson destroyed the Ballroom. It was rebuilt and reopened in less than a year after the fire.  The current renovation is the first major renovation of the ballroom since that time.
 
Over the years many major campus events, lectures, concerts, dances and banquets have been held in the Ballroom.  Musicians such as Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra performed there, as did the rock group Nirvana in 1991.  
 
A not-for-profit service organization at the University of Kansas, the KU Memorial Unions provide services for the benefit of the University community.

View an image of the Kansas Union Ballroom

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