The University of Baltimore School of Law has been boasting and hosting peeks of its new building, a $112 million dollar beauty, and ushering a crowd of several hundred this week, which included such people as Vice President Joe Biden. Imminently proud of its 12-story construction, it plans on showing it off through April, culminating in an April 30 grand opening when U.S. Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan will visit.
As for now, it’s hands off, and classes won’t be hosted there until May — but that’s just around the corner. The building is designed, says director of communications Hope Kelly, to encourage student and faculty interaction, with plenty of communal space for meetings and groups; it also is loaded with four terraces and is laid out with the latest technology, not to mention a 300-seat moot courtroom, 15 classrooms, a central atrium, and a 32,000 square foot library, as the National Law Journal detailed.
They also reported Kelly as saying, “We’ve had prospective students who have been coming through on preview days, and their reactions have been, ‘Wow.’”
“This new building – which received significant support from the governor and from the Maryland General Assembly – and these special events signify not only the importance of the law center to the Baltimore community but also the impact it will have on the legal community nationwide,” said university president Robert Bogomolny.
It was funded mostly by the state with a $90 million contribution, but also garnered $22 million in private funds, including $15 million from law school alumnus and Baltimore Orioles owner Peter Angelos.
It should be the new and sustained pride of the University of Baltimore School of Law, and though the old campus was only built in 1982 – nothing sustains all that long nowadays – it will be at the cutting edge of architectural and technological advancement for some time.
