Board Approves New College of Law Home on Campus

During the Oct. 24 Board of Trustees meeting, the board approved a resolution authorizing a $40 million renovation of Carl H. Lindner Hall in order to provide UC’s College of Law with an expansive, state-of-the-art facility in the heart of campus.

“This plan exemplifies the upward trajectory of our law school,” said Verna Williams, interim dean of the College of Law. “The proposed plan will create a state-of-the art facility in the heart of UC’s Uptown campus that will meet the innovative needs of our students for years to come, and supports the interdisciplinary study and expertise that the field of law requires."

• See more background, including renderings of the new home for UC’s College of Law.

This plan results after several years of dialogue wherein the College of Law has considered the possibility of renovating or building a new structure in order to continue its mission to educate and inspire leaders who pursue justice and advance the role of law in society.

Last year, the university’s Board of Trustees authorized a $1 million design study related to constructing a new home for the college on campus. The study, which spent just $39,600 of those funds, indicated renovation of Lindner Hall to be the best option, said Mary Beth McGrew, UC architect and senior associate vice president of planning, design and construction.

All of these avenues have been explored due to the fact that the current College of Law building was originally constructed in 1925 with additions in the 1960s and 1980s. Due to its age, it contains major systems at the end of their useful operating spans, according to University Architect Beth McGrew.

She said, “Renovation or adaptive reuse of the existing structure is not a good option because the original structure and the subsequent additions mean there are differing floor heights, construction types and layouts throughout the structure. In looking at the fit of this facility to the needs of today’s learning environment, we found that the numbers, types and arrangements of spaces don’t really match today’s needs.”

She added that it was important to the university to make the best use of resources, adding, “We wouldn’t do this if it were not a good fit, but this is a good fit.”

“We’re looking forward to working with the university architect and her team in configuring a building that works best for a law school of the 21st century,” said Williams. “This new building likely will set the standard for law schools for years to come.”

The university continues to study the future of the Calhoun Corridor, which includes the existing College of Law building, as part of a campus-wide master-planning process.

ABOUT THE COLLEGE OF LAW

Established in 1833, the University of Cincinnati College of Law is the first law school west of the Alleghenies and the fourth-oldest continuously operating law school in the country.