Repository: UIHistories Project: Dedication - Law [PAGE 4]

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Construction proceeded in phases as hinds became available. During the summer of 1988, the auditorium and one classroom were completely remodeled. During the summer of 1989, two additional classrooms and a seminar room were remodeled; in the library, a carpet was installed, all tables were refinished, and new chairs provided. By the early 1990s, the capital campaign was nearing completion, various architectural plans had been reviewed and modified, and the faculty continued their juggling of the increases in projected costs. And finally under the leadership of Dean Richard Schmalbeck, the College decided to borrow the remaining needed funds from the University and begin final construction. At a groundbreaking ceremony in June 1992, Chancellor Weir praised the Colleges many contributions and recognized the tireless efforts of numerous faculty, staff, alumni, and friends of the College over the past twenty-five years in planning and working to make a dream come true. Most graduates remember law school as a difficult time, but those difficulties in the past arguably pale in comparison to the challenges students, faculty, and staff faced during the 1992-93 academic year. Frequendy dodging barricades, talking and teaching over the constant pounding of jackhammers, evading trucks and mud, and stepping over electrical wiring, students and faculty coped with the burdens of an academic program under construction siege. During the fall semester the College scheduled interviews off campus and provided students with three weeks of shuttle-bus service to the Radisson Suite Hotel to meet prospective employers. All of the faculty were moved to temporary offices, and a November 1992 memo noted that "there will be

intermittent power outages; and there will be hazardous demolition work taking place.** The memo proved all too accurate. Faculty and students persevered nobly. Indeed, as fund raising projects, the students prepared two t-shirt designs with themes centered on the buildings chaos. And the project was not without its defining moments. The College had been advised that the building was located on a site that formerly saw use as a stable. Bulldozers excavating on the building's south side uncovered a number of interesting objects, including, one day, a mysterious container that began emitting smoke. As the only open entrance to the building was also on the south side there was some concern, and soon technicians from the Environmental Protection Agency were donning moonsuits to investigate. Perfectly harmless. By the fall of 1993, under the leadership of Dean Thomas M. Mengler, major portions of the renovation were completed. Furnishings and carpeting began to arrive, faculty began moving into their offices, and the library soon began its long task or reshelving books. Gradually, members of the College began to use the new space, and we discovered to our delight that the facility surpassed our own expectations. The many hours of work itemizing individual needs had been transformed into areas that flowed one from another in a rational way, with all the areas tying into and held together by the glorious expanse of the Pedersen Pavilion. And the next phase in the College of Law's history had begun.

Law Building, 1 Law Building, Alteeld Hall, 1927-1956 Harker Hall. 1903-192* University Hall. 1897-1903

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