Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Law [PAGE 3]

EXTRACTED TEXT FROM PAGE:

A SHORT HISTORY OF THE BUILDING PROJKCT

Many years ago, under the leadership of Dean Peter Hay, the College or Law began a process intended to correct the deficiencies of our building. The process can be described in a deceptively simple way. We planned to solicit $5 million in private contributions over a period of five years. With this sum, matched with a like contribution from the State of Illinois, we would contract the design and construction work. Considerations leading to that decision have been well documented. While the building was considered quite satisfactory when it was first completed in 1955, it proved difficult to modify to keep pace with the changing nature of legal education. Plans for an addition in the mid-1970s failed to secure state funding, and the improvements were not realized. The "Silver Anniversary Fund** in 1979-80 raised $200,000 to meet several pressing needs while also demonstrating that the College had major space needs that would threaten its future if allowed to continue to go unmet. There were several manifestations of the problem. We faced the inability to house all the faculty when fully staffed, let alone emeritus or visiting faculty. Students lacked any real lounge space. The highly successful placement service was in perpetual crisis for lack of interview space. Instructional space did not meet the needs of todays problem-oriented curriculum, and the heating and air conditioning plant was an inefficient relic. The law library provided perhaps the best example of how the building failed to meet evolving needs. When the library was built in the 1950s, its maximum capacity was projected to be approximately 160,000 volumes. Today the library's collection of books numbers 504,000 with a typical annual growth of 10,000 new volumes. Changes in technology made upgrades necessary as well. Computerizing a catalog required space and special wiring that was never contemplated in the initial building design. In the absence of an overall plan for expansion, the library invaded space reserved for the staff and student study areas; and when that space was gone, leased 15,000 linear feet in the University's main library. In the mid-1980s the Colleges administration determined that such serious shortcomings in the facility had limited the Colleges ability to fulfill its educational mission. A lengthy internal review identified general areas for improvement and listed specific requirements for every part of the College. The faculty determined that a capital campaign was needed to raise the funds for a major building enovation. The campaign began in 1985 with the late Albert £. Jenner, Jr. ('30) serving as national chairman. Even before the campaign began to gain momentum, Mr. Jenner suffered a stroke and was incapacitated for more than a year. He died in the fall of 1988, and the College lost both a campaign chair and a valued friend. College administrators began a search for someone who could infuse the necessary spirit and enthusiasm into the campaign, and were most fortunate that Peer Pedersen ('48) agreed to lend his assistance. While declining the title of national chair, Mr. Pedersen worked on behalf of the campaign so effectively that it soon became clear that it would not succeed without him. His major pledge gave the campaign momentum and provided the impetus to approach others; and his leadership indelibly stamped the program as a credible project.