After years of delay due to state funding problems, the groundbreaking for a new University of Colorado School of Law building is set for Nov. 12 with construction activity on the $46.4 million building set to begin in January.
"We are delighted that this long quest for a new state-of-the-art building will finally be fulfilled," said law school Dean David Getches. "You can feel the excitement among our students, alumni, faculty and supporters. It's been a long effort but will prove well worth it."
An additional $4.2 million remains to be raised from private sources for the largely student-funded building, Getches said, which is now designed to be 178,000 gross square feet instead of the smaller building originally planned before state funding was withdrawn in 2001. With construction scheduled to begin in January, the new building should be completed in time for the fall 2006 semester.
The building will be named the Wolf Law Building for the late Leon and Dora Wolf, parents of Marvin, Melvin and Erving Wolf, who, with their spouses, were the lead donors. Marvin and Judi Wolf live in Denver, as does the wife of the late Melvin Wolf, Elaine. Erving and Joyce Wolf live in Palm Springs, Fla.
Enlargement of the planned building from architectural drawings made a few years ago resulted in design changes made over the summer. The expanded building will allow the school eventually to increase its enrollment from the current 480 students to as many as 750, though any expansion will be gradual, Getches said.
The groundbreaking will be at 4 p.m. Nov. 12 in the law school parking lot near the site of the new building, southwest of the existing Fleming Law Building. The ceremony will be followed by a reception in the Moorhead Rutledge Lounge at Fleming Law.
"Without the support of the students we would not have been able to make our building plans a reality," Getches said.
A key factor in the school's ability to raise enough money for the building was the decision of law students six years ago to pay higher tuition to help fund the structure, said Getches. An additional $1,000 a year that law students have been paying since 1997 will support nearly $6 million of bonded indebtedness for the building.
Money from that tuition differential already has been used to replace the varsity tennis courts south of the existing building, which are being removed to make way for the Wolf Law Building.
But the biggest breakthrough in funding came last April when the CU-Boulder student government approved a new student fee on all full-time students. The fee will begin at the time the building is completed in fall 2006 and will increase from $100 a year to $400 a year over a four-year period. The new fee will be assessed for 20 years, raising more than $21 million to replace state funding that was abruptly withdrawn three years ago because of Colorado's fiscal crisis. The fee also will support financing of three other campus projects.
"This remarkable commitment by students to academic buildings is unprecedented anywhere in the world," said Getches. "It is unfortunate that the current condition of state government has required this. But it shows the incredible sense of civic responsibility of today's CU students."
Law students also were instrumental in promoting the passage of Senate Bill 189 last spring, which gave CU-Boulder enterprise status. The designation will assist the campus in securing its own construction financing for the building through the sale of bonds, to be paid off with student funds.
That flexibility in pursuing financial independence from a declining state budget, and the law school's ability to attract more private funding have allowed the building project to get back on track, said Getches.
The new building will immediately enhance the learning experience of CU law students. The new law library, at 42,047 square feet, will be 50 percent larger than the existing law library. The Wolf Law Building will have 18 classrooms ranging in size from 20 to 100 seats, plus a 250-seat courtroom and a high-tech teaching courtroom.
The L-shaped, modified Tuscan-style structure will have space for five law clinics, including interview rooms, faculty and staff offices, and space for three law journals and three legal research centers. The remaining space will include administrative offices, student organization areas, admissions and registrar's offices, a café, and career services facilities.
Wireless Internet connections will be available throughout the facility and computer terminals will be conveniently placed in public areas. A lack of adequate wiring in Fleming Law now makes it difficult to use equipment as needed.
With construction about to begin, increasing law school enrollment after the new building opens will be a topic for future consideration, Getches said.
"In the past the law building's small size has required us to have a physical cap on growth because we have not had space to expand," he said.
Decisions to expand the number of students will be made with care in order to maintain the school's quality and ranking, Getches said. This depends in part on the qualifications of admitted students, which are among the highest in the nation, and on a favorable student-to-faculty ratio, which is now 13-to-1.
School of Law
New Building Facts
November 2004
* Cost of the new CU-Boulder Wolf Law Building will be $46.4 million. Construction will begin in January 2005 with groundbreaking set for November.
* The groundbreaking will be at 4 p.m. Nov. 12, 2004, at the site of the Wolf Law Building southwest of the existing building.
* The finished building will be 178,000 square feet and will have 18 classrooms and about 75 offices spread over five floors in an L-shaped structure. (Original plans called for the new building to have 160,000 square feet.) The building will feature a 250-seat courtroom for visiting courts and student mock court uses.
* The Fleming Law Building, built in 1957, was expected to accommodate up to 250 law students. Enrollment is now 480 students.
* The law library, a focal point of planning for the new building, will be expanded from the existing 32,500 square feet to 42,047 square feet and will feature high-speed Internet access.
* Funding will come from the following sources:
$ 1.5 million state general fund
$ 8.6 million private funds already raised
$ 21.2 million bonds to be paid off with campus-wide student fees*
$ 5.2 million campus reserves allocated by the chancellor
$ 5.7 million raised through tuition differential that law
students assessed themselves beginning in 1997
$ 4.2 million remaining balance yet to be raised.
$ 46.4 million Total funds
* Approved by the CU-Boulder student government in April 2004 to be assessed when the building is completed. Students will begin paying an additional $100 in fees beginning in fall 2006 increasing by $100 a year to $400 a year.
* Library
State-of-the-art library will be 50 percent bigger than the existing law library at 42,047 square feet. The existing library is 32,500 square feet.
* Classrooms:
Classroom space will include five 86-seat classrooms, five 50-seat classrooms, six 20-seat seminar rooms, one library methods room, one teaching courtroom and one 250-seat courtroom.
* Student Uses
Space for three student-edited law journals, 20 student organizations and a student café will be available.
* Clinics:
Room for five law clinics will be included along with interview rooms, faculty offices, support staff offices, a waiting room, resource room, team room and workroom.
* Centers:
Offices for three law school centers will be available to students and faculty. Existing centers include the Natural Resources Law Center, the Byron R. White Center and the Silicon Flatirons Telecommunications Program.
* Offices:
Offices for 64 faculty members and support staff are included. A large colloquium room also will be available for meetings and presentations by CU faculty and visiting experts.
Office space for professional staff, interview rooms, resource rooms, file rooms and support staff offices will be included for the law school Admissions and Registrars offices and the school's Career Services office.
Ten administrative offices will be available.
For more information, see the Wolf Law Building special report.