Several summer construction projects currently underway in St.
John’s University School of Law will enhance the teaching and
learning experiences of both law faculty and their students. Work
on Belson and Finley Halls, the conjoined buildings that together
house the School of Law, began in mid-May and is expected to
continue through the month of July.
Room 1-13 in Belson Hall, the last room in the buildings to be
updated from its 1972 original state, is being remodeled and
enhanced to mirror updates previously made in Room 1-15 across the
hall. New lighting, furniture and wall finishes will complete the
look. The newly reconfigured space will seat about 120
students.
The Law Writing Center, which had been operating out of a small
study room, is being relocated in 2000 sq. ft. of the Computer Lab
on the first floor. This upsized Writing Center will now
incorporate the latest classroom technology and will include
accessible electrical outlets to power student laptops—a feature
especially requested by students—located on each table. Site lines
across the room will be improved, and new furniture and wall
finishes will make it a most attractive place to learn.
This enlarged Writing Center, explains Andrew J. Simons, J.D.,
Associate Academic Dean of the School of Law, “will now be more
formal, more evident and attractive.” In this new space, Law
Professors Margaret Turano, J.D., LL.M., and Robin Boyle, J.D.,
will continue to work with first-year law students on their legal
writing skills and supervise several upper-class student tutors
selected for their excellence in writing
On the third floor, some walls and a part of the ceiling are
being demolished and an internal staircase between the third and
fourth floors will be removed to make way for office space for the
School of Law’s Development and Alumni Relations office. The
remaining space, formerly the Faculty Library, will become a
“first-class Faculty Center,” according to Dean Simons, “a space
for faculty lunches, faculty symposia and colloquia, and other
small events, as well as sitting areas for conversation.” This
space will also be equipped with state-of-the-art technology.
After Development and Alumni Relations move out of the space
they had been occupying on the third floor, that area will become
the Law School’s new “LL.M Center,” which will house the offices of
the two prestigious graduate law programs: the LL.M Program in
Bankruptcy and the recently accredited LL.M Program in U.S. Legal
Studies for Foreign Law School Graduates, which is set to begin
this fall. The LL.M. Center will also provide meeting space for law
students.
The space that becomes available on the fourth floor as a result
of the staircase removal will become a new faculty lounge, with all
new amenities including furniture, carpeting and paint. The lounge
will also be outfitted with the latest technology.
This summer’s Law School construction and renovation projects
are part of St. John’s $500 million investment in upgrades and
additions to its three New York City campuses, intended to improve
the University’s service to students and to enhance their learning
experience and environment.