There’s more than meets the eye to the many limestone buildings you’ll spot on a visit to the Kansas University campus in Lawrence. Limestone is at the root of the school’s famous chant that all but certifies impending loss for an opposing team – Rock Chalk Jayhawk.
As the legend goes, in 1886, chemistry professor E.H.S. Bailey and colleagues were trying to conceive of a college yell while returning to Lawrence via train. Perhaps inspired by the rhythm of their train on the tracks, they came up with “Rah, Rah, Jayhawk, KU,” chanted three times. By 1889, “Rah, Rah” had evolved into “Rock Chalk,” a transposition of the “chalk rock” type of limestone native to Kansas.
Historic Allen Fieldhouse, home to KU basketball, is one of those limestone buildings on campus, and the second whose exterior has been restored this year by Mid-Continental Restoration. The restoration is set to be completed just in time for college basketball to tip off this fall.
Cody Clayton, foreman for Mid-Continental, says the native-to-Kansas limestone on Allen Fieldhouse is softer and more porous than other limestones, making it more susceptible to staining from biological growth. This type of limestone differs from the Indiana limestone on KU’s Budig Hall just up the hill, which Mid-Continental restored in early 2024. (Coincidentally, Budig Hall served as the KU basketball team’s home court until 1955 when Allen Fieldhouse opened.)
Clayton says the last time Allen Fieldhouse was cleaned was nearly 20 years ago in 2005, when it was last renovated.
Work started in June 2024 to repair the building’s exterior and clean biological and carbon staining from the limestone façade. PROSOCO representative Mike Dickey, already familiar with buildings on KU’s campus, proposed the appropriate cleaners and dilution ratios ultimately approved for the cleaning process.
The entire wall was cleaned with PROSOCO’s two-part ReKlaim system, including a cleaner and activator, followed up by a neutralizing rinse with one of two products.
Because the stains were light-to-moderate in certain spots and much deeper in other areas, such as at the very top of the building, they opted for two different approaches.
The deepest stains were hit with two or even three applications of ReKlaim and neutralized with ReVeal. The lighter stains were cleaned with ReKlaim once and neutralized with Limestone & Masonry Afterwash. Once clean, they’ll protect the entire façade with Natural Stone Treatment.
When he drives into Lawrence from his hometown of Fort Scott, Kan., Clayton can’t help but notice the volume of other historic masonry buildings on KU’s campus in need of some TLC. Over the last two years, KU projects have kept Clayton and his team busy, which is just fine by him.
“They’ve got a lot of buildings that need cleaning,” he says. “I like it here, so I’m hoping they’ll keep up with that.”
