King Hall Renovation Underway
Construction crews have returned to UC Davis School of Law as the renovation phase of the King Hall Expansion and Renovation project kicks off a period of intense activity scheduled for the summer of 2011. Just days after commencement, work began on the renovation of the basement and classrooms in the "old" King Hall as part of the effort to upgrade the previously existing Law School building to complement the new, state-of-the-art expansion wing, which opened to faculty and students last fall.
Private support for the project will be critical as the Law School seeks to raise more than $2 million to bring significant improvements to classrooms, study areas, the student lounge, student organization offices, the Mabie Law Library, and other key facilities. The work is expected to take roughly 18 months, with the most potentially disruptive construction scheduled for the summer months.
Classrooms will be renovated to match the layout and technological capacity of those in the new east wing, including a "horseshoe" seating configuration and shallower vertical drop from the back of the room to the front to create an enhanced feeling of intimacy. The Mabie Law Library will also see significant changes, as the renovation brings an expanded and improved lobby, remodeled reading room, and the Hugh and Hazel Darling Lounge. Improvements to the basement will include expanded office spaces for student organizations such as the Law Review and journals, significant improvements to student lockers, three and one-half new reading rooms, and an expanded and improved student lounge that will include not only microwave ovens and refrigerators, but two sinks-a feature that was absent from the old lounge.
Beginning May 16, crews began demolition and asbestos abatement work in the classrooms and basement, and erected temporary barriers to limit noise and disruption. By the following week, the contractor had begun laying the foundation for an extension of the building that will provide additional space at King Hall's southwestern corner, and lockers were moved from the basement to a temporary location at the southwest corner of King Hall's second floor.
Over the course of the summer, the renovation work is likely to be "noisy but productive," said Adam Talley, the Law School's Senior Assistant Dean for Administration. It is expected that the upstairs classrooms in the "old" King Hall will be ready for use by the time classes begin in August, and the basement is likely to be open by end of the fall semester, he said.
Dean Kevin R. Johnson thanked the King Hall alumni, friends, and campus partners who have made the renovation project possible. "Without the support of Chancellor Linda Katehi, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor Ralph Hexter, and Vice Chancellor of Administrative and Resource Management John Meyer, the renovation project would not have come to be. The Law School owes them, as well as our generous alumni and friends, many thanks," said Dean Johnson.
With the renovation work already underway, the Law School still needs to raise more than $2 million in private support in order to realize the full potential of the project. To find out how you can make an online gift to the King Hall Expansion and Renovation project, please visit www.law.ucdavis.edu/giving, For more information on naming a room contact Jean Flournoy Korinke, Assistant Dean, jfkorinke@ucdavis.edu, (530) 752-1067.
