Renovations complete, Law School returns to original home

Ceremony celebrates end ofCeremony celebrates end of2-year, $6.5 million projectCeremony celebrates end of2-year, $6.5 million projectto restore Lewis Hall Marking the conclusion of a two-year, $6.5 million restoration and renovation project, Law School graduate and donor Howard Gittis cut a ribbon at ceremonies last night to symbolically rededicate Lewis Hall -- the Law School's original building at 34th and Chestnut streets. Bagpipes welcomed the black-tie clad guests to the exclusive affair, which was limited to the school's major benefactors and administrators. U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), a 1951 Penn graduate, and Mayor Ed Rendell, a 1965 graduate, were among those in attendance. "It is great to have a benefactor like [Gittis] to make this contribution so that students can train here at this great law school and perform legal aid," Specter said. Gittis' donation supported the construction of a law clinic on the building's ground floor, where the school's legal firm will be housed. "We now have one of the finest facilities for a clinical law office or law firm anywhere," Law School Dean Colin Diver said. The clinic, named for Gittis, offers students, under faculty supervision, the opportunity to argue cases for Philadelphia residents. "Clinical studies are what give graduating law students the ability to get in, start quickly and be great assets to their clients," said 1957 College for Women graduate Lenore Gittis, Howard Gittis's sister. The Lewis Hall renovation updated the building for greater flexibility and restored its 17th century English architecture and design. In addition to the Gittis Clinic, renovated areas of the building include two classrooms and a reading room in Goodrich Hall, Sharswood Hall and Kaufman Seminar Room. New admissions and development offices were added, and technology upgrades now connect computers to the classrooms. A newly created trial courtroom will include cameras to allow students to review their own performance. At a benefactors' dinner following the rededication ceremony, Rendell remarked on the renovation's "incredible use of space --Eput together in a practical way, while preserving the grandeur [of the building]." "It's great to come back and speak at Penn Law," Rendell added. "When I applied to the school as an undergraduate, the dean laughed at my application? and told me my money would be better spent at Smokey Joe's." Other returning Law graduates also said they were impressed with the renovations. "It is an extraordinary combination of a beautiful job with renovation and an adaptation of space that was no longer being used to suit current needs," 1979 Law graduate Don Millinger said. Law School Assistant Dean Gary Clinton noted that the renovation is especially relevant to current students. "Space means something to people," he said. "Students can sense a continuity in time. People who have gone here have done wonderful things with their lives and that history is reflected in this building." The Law School, founded in 1850, has been housed at its current location since 1900. When Lewis Hall was first opened, the structure was the largest building in the country devoted exclusively to the education of lawyers.

Please note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.