April 14, 2004

Cooley Center Breaks Ground on 3rd and 4th floors

Cooley Law School held a groundbreaking ceremony today to celebrate the beginning of the final phase of completing the Cooley Center. Construction has just begun on the third and fourth floors of the Center in downtown Lansing, Mich.

Cooley President Don LeDuc spoke about Cooley's dedication to provide 21st century facilities for the law school and to its students, and described how the vision for the Cooley Center transpired over the past two years.

"The Cooley Center was originally conceived as an office building and opened with three unfinished floors, but it was already a showpiece when it opened," said LeDuc. "In the past two years, the transition of the Cooley Center into a full-service law school building began as a magnificent courtroom complex was created on the fifth floor, and ended with the transformation of the lower level into an upscale bookstore with an attached student café, a site for the student bar association, and the location of our first two distance education classrooms."

LeDuc continued to spell out more details of the two new floors from the floor plans.

"Today, we break ground, at least symbolically, on the final stage of that transition. Before this year is out, Cooley will open the final two floors of this building as classroom and office space. As the drawings show, we will have three major classrooms, a large assortment of smaller classrooms, our Career Services Office, student organization offices, and an adjunct faculty office on these floors."

3rd Floor Plan (image) | 4th Floor Plan (image)

Mayor Tony Benavides spoke about the importance of having Cooley located in the heart of downtown Lansing and how Cooley's success has revitalized the downtown through its continuous renovations and improvements.

"I've been a great supporter of Cooley Law School since it opened its doors over 30 years ago," said Benavides. "What's really exciting is to see its success and to see it become the largest law school in the nation."

MayotteJacob Architect Mike Mayotte was also excited about working with Cooley again. "MayotteJacob has been honored to work on many Cooley Law School projects, even as far back as when the school started," said Mayotte. "We worked on the school"s classroom building, Cooley"s library facilities, and, of course, the many stages of the Cooley Center. We are delighted to be completing the final phase of this magnificent building."

Dennis Burt, president of Haussman Construction, the winning general contractor, was very pleased about the opportunity to work with Cooley Law School on the project. "It is rewarding to work with some great people at such a fine educational institution," Burt said.

Cooley's Lansing operations are housed in the Cooley Center at 300 S. Capitol, the Brennan Law Library a couple blocks away at South Washington Avenue and Kalamazoo, and in the Temple Building at 217 S. Capitol. Upon completion of Cooley Center's third and fourth floors, most operations now in the Temple Building will relocate to the Cooley Center.

William Schoettle, Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Finance for Cooley, said no decisions have been made about future uses for the Temple Building. Prior to Cooley's purchase of the building in the 1970s, the structure was owned by the Masonic Temple Association.

"Cooley will continue to use the Temple Building for a variety of functions in the near future. The long-range plans are not determined. Many options are being reviewed," he stated.

Completion of the $4.5 million third and fourth floors project is targeted for November 2005.

Founded in 1972, Cooley Law School is the largest law school in the country. Cooley has the second-largest enrollment in African-American students of any law school and the highest number of minorities overall in the United States. Cooley has three campuses across Michigan; its main campus in downtown Lansing, its downtown Grand Rapids/Western Michigan University campus in west Michigan, and its Rochester/Oakland University campus in southeast Michigan. Find out more about Cooley Law School by visiting the Cooley Web site at www.cooley.edu.

For more information, please contact Terry Carella, Director of Communications, at (517) 371-5140 ext. 2916 or e-mail the Cooley Communications Office at communications@cooley.edu.