On June 22, Georgia State University College of Law moved into its new building, at 85 Park Place, on the corner of John Wesley Dobbs Avenue in downtown Atlanta. The LEED Silver Certified facility was built by McCarthy Building Companies Inc. and designed by SmithGroup JJR and Stevens & Wilkinson architectural firms with Georgia State University’s facilities management department.
“McCarthy has done an amazing job on our new building,” said Steven J. Kaminshine, dean and professor of law. “The new building increases the College of Law’s capacity to attract top students and engage with the greater legal community. It affords us the space to expand and improve our programs to serve more students and help our clinics assist underserved Georgians.”
The $82.5 million project is Georgia State University’s first dedicated legal education facility on campus. The 200,000-square-foot space, housed on a 2.42-acre site located in downtown Atlanta, includes 21 state-of-the-art classrooms, a conference center, a 230-seat ceremonial courtroom, additional courtrooms of varying sizes for clinical practice and community outreach and an International Arbitration Center. The Law Library occupies the top two floors and offers flexible learning space as well as a formal reading area, a café and an outdoor terrace.
“We are thrilled to deliver this modern, sustainable law school for Georgia State University. To know that we played a small role in what is such a huge milestone for the College of Law is an honor,” said Gary McGrathy, McCarthy’s project director. “It has been nothing short of an incredible partnership with Georgia State and the McCarthy team is grateful to have worked alongside such an esteemed group.”
During the construction, students, faculty, alumni and the general public could follow the building’s progress at building.law.gsu.edu and through the college’s and McCarthy’s social media channels.
“Our alumni have even made the time-lapse video server crash a few times because of the influx of views," Kaminshine said. "The Georgia State Law community has rallied around the construction of the new building, and to say we are excited to move in is an understatement.”
Classes will begin in the new building this fall. Georgia State University and the college officially will celebrate the opening of the new building at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 9, with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.