UC's $45 million renovation project unveiled as new law school

The University of Cincinnati College of Law has taken up a new residence on Martin Luther King Drive, at the site of the university's old business school building. Officials hosted a grand opening for the law school on Monday, now that the $45.6 million renovation project is complete.

“Our new building embodies the college’s orientation toward the future while embracing our storied past,” College of Law dean Verna Williams said in a news release. Williams is leaving the university to be CEO at Equal Justice Works in Washington, D.C. This is her last week on campus. “We’re proud of this facility and invite the UC community to join us in celebrating this new addition to our beautiful campus.”

Always a Bearcat: University of Cincinnati President Neville Pinto is here to stay, in his dream job

100s of UC students scramble for a place to live: University of Cincinnati welcomed its largest incoming class, then couldn't house them

Several donors contributed to the project, including alumni and community partners whose names are displayed throughout the new facility. The building's atrium is named in honor of Peck, Shaffer & Williams LLP, the former firm of UC alumni H.C. Buck Niehoff who contributed $500,000 to the project. Another $500,000 gift from Cincinnati law firm Dinsmore & Shohl LLP went towards the facility's multipurpose room.

“Dinsmore considers the College of Law a strategic resource for the entire community," Dinsmore's managing partner and chairman George Vincent said in a news release.

There is also the Honorable Sandra S. Beckwith Courtroom, the school's primary mock trial courtroom named for a 1968 UC College of Law graduate and the first woman to sit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. One of Beckwith's fellow alumni donated $500,000 for the project.

Two gifts of $250,000 also helped create the James B. Helmer Jr. Classroom Class of 1975 and the Victor E. Schwartz Law Review Suite, according to the university.

The law school moved into the new facility in August after a year and a half of construction, according to the university. The project's contractor is Skanska, an international construction and development company and one of the largest general contractors in Greater Cincinnati. Global design firm Perkins & Will and Cincinnati-based BHDP Architecture were the project's architects.

The law school renovation was approved by UC trustees five years ago. The Lindner College of Business moved into a new building in 2019.

University of Cincinnati's new law school, by the numbers

The college serves more than 400 law students and nearly 80 faculty and staff members, according to a news release from the university.

The new building encompasses:

• A $45.6 million renovation.

• Nearly 117,000 square feet.

• Six stories.

• 23 classrooms, seminar rooms and private study rooms.

• Multiple study spaces for individuals and groups.

• A two-story lobby atrium and a second-floor terrace.

Michael Whiteman, associate dean of library services and director of the law library, will become interim dean of the law school once Williams leaves later this week.

“Our new building with state-of-the-art amenities will allow UC Law to continue to leverage our legal partnership with regional and national companies, law firms and nonprofit organizations that make a difference in our world,” Whiteman said in the news release, noting student work at local start-ups, on domestic violence cases and through the Ohio Innocence Project. “We are attracting the best students, faculty and staff and our new facility will help us showcase the talent at the university."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: After $45 million renovation, former UC business building now law school home