Quote:Designing a New Home
November 11, 2011

ATLANTA - Nearly three decades after it first opened its doors and carved out space in the Urban Life building on the Georgia State University campus, the College of Law is working on designs for a new building.

After a lengthy pre-design process of studying the law school's programmatic and space needs, the project has advanced to the formal design phase, which is expected to continue through summer or fall of 2012. GSU is working to secure state bond support of $65 million and is in the leadership phase of a private fundraising campaign that hopes to secure the remaining $20 million needed to finance the cost of the building. If everything goes to plan, construction crews will break ground in the fall of 2013 and the new College of Law will open in the fall of 2015.

Late last year, the Georgia State University Foundation made a significant investment in the project with the purchase of a parcel of land at the intersection of John Wesley Dobbs Avenue and Park Place, just north of Woodruff Park, for $17 million. The College of Law will share the site with the J. Mack Robinson College of Business, which also plans to build there. Earlier this year, the state authorized a $5 million bond issue to support design costs for the new College of Law building.

This marked a turning point, ending long-standing speculation about where a new law school would be built. Now, with a site selected and the blessing of the Board of Regents to move forward, design work is proceeding in earnest.