Wednesday, December 19, 2007

http://cumberlink.com/news/trickett-hall-project-to-start-in-january/article_b1201c3c-7488-598c-870b-ce1e040ed43b.html

Construction to begin in January.


Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Upcoming Law School construction brings up nostalgic feelings for all the crap Carlisle had to go through to get Penn State to keep any of its promises

http://cumberlink.com/news/opinion/editorial/soon-law-school-construction-begins/article_75234c4d-7522-5118-946a-184885cd8561.html


November 06, 2007 12:00 am  •   
Sunday’s Sentinel story, “PSU OKs law school,” may remind some of us about the community struggle to keep the law school in Carlisle, but the story remains an affirmation of the school’s future here.
It seems like only yesterday that The Sentinel was informing its readers of a planned attempt to move Dickinson School of Law to Penn State’s main campus through a quick-strike vote of the school’s board of trustees. From that early warning, the community came together in a campaign to keep the law school in its historic home.
That campaign finally resulted in the Solomonic, if not totally satisfactory, decision to recreate the law school as a dual-campus educational facility. Later, local residents were wary of plans that called for a showplace headquarters building of modern architecture to be plunked down in the leafy southwest quadrant that has been home to the law school for so long.
That controversy resulted in the plan described in Sunday’s edition — a refurbishment and preservation of the familiar Trickett Hall and a new building addition that will connect it with a 1985 addition. Other adjuncts built in 1963 and 1973 will be demolished, along with “the curtilage,” a group of smaller brick buildings along South College Street used for faculty offices.
As Penn State has promised all along, the reimagined Carlisle campus will be connected with the University Park facility through the latest in audiovisual telecommunications and data exchange, making it possible for students in one location to take advantage of lectures and resources being offered in the other location.
Groundbreaking is expected in a couple of months, with an estimated completion date in March 2010. The $50 million cost of the project is half state money and 10 percent Penn State money, with the rest raised in a campaign specifically targeted at the Carlisle campus.
The construction project may inflict some transitory inconvenience on the surrounding neighborhood for the next couple of years, but there is good reason to look forward to the campus’ rededication. Right now, the student body and faculty are using temporary quarters in the former Stoner Associates building along the Miracle Mile.
This means a fairly large group of people find themselves no longer convenient to the downtown, which means they’re less likely to patronize downtown businesses. Their eventual return could help drive the downtown revitalization efforts we covered in The Sentinel last week, if the timing is right.
So we wish Penn State and the law school the best of luck as they move forward, hopefully free of construction delays and cost overruns. What’s good for them could be good for the whole community.

Monday, November 05, 2007

PSU trustees approve final Carlisle law school plans

http://cumberlink.com/news/psu-trustees-approve-final-carlisle-law-school-plans/article_2f051eb4-886d-5849-9ec5-35409349ed99.html

November 04, 2007 12:00 am  •   
The Penn State Board of Trustees Friday afternoon approved the final plans for $50 million in renovations and additions to Trickett Hall at Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law Carlisle campus.
The 89-year-old Trickett Hall and the 1985 addition will be retained, according to plans designed by Polshek Partnership Architects and Hargreaves Associates, both of New York City, and Harrisburg’s Office of Planning and Architecture.
Trickett Hall will be renovated to house the H. Laddie Montague, Jr. Law Library, while the 1985 addition will be renovated to house offices. The new Lewis Katz Hall, which will be topped with a green roof, will contain classrooms, a courtroom and auditorium.
An advanced audiovisual telecommunications network will connect the building with the law school’s new facility at University Park, enabling students and faculty at either location to access on a real-time, interactive basis classes or programs at either location.
“In this way, the law school will operate as a single enterprise, with a single identity, reputation, and stature,” said Gary C. Schultz, senior vice president for finance and business/treasurer of the University.
Carlisle Borough Council in September approved the final development plan for the proposed addition.
The plan calls for the construction of a one-story addition connecting a preserved Trickett Hall on South College Street with the boxy 1985 brick addition.
This would require the demolition of 1963 and 1973 additions along with “the curtilage,” a collection of small brick buildings on the north side of the campus on South College Street that today are used as faculty offices.
Demolition could begin by late fall or early winter.
Ground-breaking is expected by January 2008, with an estimated completion date of March 2010.
The new addition will also include seminar rooms, a cafe and common space. It will be relatively modest in size in keeping with the desire to empathize historic Trickett Hall.
The project is being paid for by $15 million in fundraising and $10 million from the University matched by $25 million in state money.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

City Council approved the addition to Trickett Hall

http://cumberlink.com/news/council-oks-addition-to-dickinson-law-school/article_52a68cfe-dba7-53e1-af62-e44f2006e2bd.html


September 15, 2007 12:00 am  •   
Carlisle Borough Council Thursday approved the final development plan for a proposed addition to the Carlisle campus of Penn State Dickinson School of Law.
The plan calls for the construction of a one-story addition connecting a preserved Trickett Hall on South College Street with a boxy 1985 brick addition.
This would require the demolition of 1963 and 1973 additions along with &#8220the curtilage,” a collection of small brick buildings on the north side of the campus on South College Street that today are used as faculty offices.
Demolition could begin by late fall or early winter. Construction of the new addition, which may be named Lewis Katz Hall, could start in early spring 2008 with completion by spring 2010.
The new addition will include classrooms, seminar rooms, an auditorium, a cafe and common space. It will be relatively modest in size in keeping with the desire to empathize historic Trickett Hall.
Trickett Hall will house a new law library and hearing room while the 1985 addition will be used for administration.

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Tentative look at the destruction of Trickett Hall

http://cumberlink.com/news/drawings-offer-look-at-tentative-dsl-changes/article_9fa4bffb-748c-52e9-b82b-f9cf008d47f8.html

May 18, 2007 12:00 am  •   
Penn State Dickinson School of Law Friday released new illustrations of a proposed renovation and addition of the Carlisle campus.
The preliminary drawings circulated among members of the Penn State University board of trustees this week show a modern addition between Trickett Hall on South College Street and a boxy 1985 brick addition at the rear of the property.
Dean Philip McConnaughay said Friday the law school hopes to occupy the completed buildings by early spring of 2010 and hold graduation in Carlisle that year.
He said he doesn't yet have a timeline for when the plans might come to the trustees and Carlisle borough officials for approval.
Law school officials have been discussing the plans with borough officials, he said.
&#8220I expect you will see some demolition begin as early as November of this year,” he said.
Designing a new structure that ties the campus to its very modern sister campus in State College while sitting next to the Colonial-styled Trickett Hall gave Polshek Partnership Architects in New York a whole new challenge.

Friday, March 30, 2007

Tacking the ultra modern onto the beautiful traditional......and destroying the grand staircases in the processes.

http://cumberlink.com/news/dsl-plan-includes-green-structure/article_ef30d0e3-20b1-500f-bafb-f386b2320b21.html


March 29, 2007 12:00 am  •   
Very elegant’
“I can assure you they are very, very elegant,” McConnaughay says. “They will enhance the stature of Trickett Hall.”
The preliminary drawings show the original Trickett Hall structure facing South College Street would be renovated inside to house the law school’s library.
An addition constructed in the mid-1980s at the back of the current campus would be retained and used as faculty offices, McConnaughay says.
Other additions between the two structures would be demolished, including “the curtilage,” a collection of small brick buildings on the north side of the campus along South College Street that today are used as faculty offices.

Friday, January 19, 2007

Lewis Katz rides to the rescue of Trickett Hall.

http://cumberlink.com/news/donor-million-katz-s-donation-to-law-school-is-among/article_bea8c3f5-0f71-5cf7-b64e-9a28d68b7265.html

January 18, 2007 12:00 am  •   
They were major players in the debate over the future of Penn State Dickinson School of Law and when it came time to ante up cash, they came up big.
Lewis Katz and H. Laddie Montague contributed a combined $19 million toward construction of a new “signature” addition at the Trickett Hall campus in Carlisle, Penn State officials announced this morning.
Katz, one-time owner of the New Jersey Nets basketball team, contributed $15 million, making his one of the largest donations from a single contributor in Penn State’s history, officials said.
To honor that feat, Penn State proposes to name the new building addition in Carlisle “Lewis Katz Hall” and the new law school building in State College the “Lewis Katz Building.”

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Breaking ground.....and most of Trickett Hall

http://cumberlink.com/news/law-school-to-break-ground/article_fa3d7ff9-d272-5f90-a6cb-e7ddcb4af89e.html

January 16, 2007 12:00 am
Penn State University will break ground Thursday on a proposed $60 million campus for Dickinson School of Law in State College, marking the start of construction.
Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro Cortes, university officials and project architects will take part in the 10 a.m. ceremony at the site of the school’s future home along Park Avenue near Beaver Stadium.
The proposed 113,000-square-foot building is part of the university’s $110 million plan for new, electronically connected law school facilities in State College and Carlisle.
Officials said Monday they hope to host a ground breaking in Carlisle by late spring or early summer.
Gifts at the end of 2006 pushed the Carlisle project total to the $50 million level and officials have said the preservation of Trickett Hall will be the centerpiece of a new design by the project architect, Polshek Partnership Architects.

Yep, "center piece" of the design after they tried first to destroy it.

That other law school to break ground

Law school to break ground

Penn State University will break ground Thursday on a proposed $60 million campus for Dickinson School of Law in State College, marking the start of construction.

Secretary of the Commonwealth Pedro Cortes, university officials and project architects will take part in the 10 a.m. ceremony at the site of the school’s future home along Park Avenue near Beaver Stadium.

The proposed 113,000-square-foot building is part of the university’s $110 million plan for new, electronically connected law school facilities in State College and Carlisle.

Officials said Monday they hope to host a ground breaking in Carlisle by late spring or early summer.

Gifts at the end of 2006 pushed the Carlisle project total to the $50 million level and officials have said the preservation of Trickett Hall will be the centerpiece of a new design by the project architect, Polshek Partnership Architects.

Design approved

In September, Penn State trustees approved final design of the three-story University Park facility, which will be built next to the future university arboretum and close to the business and forest resources buildings.

The new structure will feature a glass-enclosed library and reading room, study and gathering spaces, a law clinic for pro bono legal services, a 250-seat auditorium and a high-tech-equipped courtroom.

Dickinson School of Law expects to occupy the new facility in January 2009. Until then, the Beam Building on Park Avenue is serving as the law school’s home in University Park.

Penn State President Graham B. Spanier; Cynthia A. Baldwin, chair of Penn State’s board of trustees; and Philip J. McConnaughay, dean of The Dickinson School of Law, will lead the ceremony.

Polshek Partnership will be represented by partners Richard M. Olcott and Timothy P. Hartung.

Cortes, a 1999 graduate of The Dickinson School of Law, also will participate in the ceremony.

A reception will follow in the President’s Hall of The Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel.

"The law school is thrilled to commence construction on what will be a world-class home for one of the nation’s finest law schools," McConnaughay said.

Progress for new law school HQ

Progress for new law school HQ

By The Sentinel, January 3, 2007

It was a late Christmas present for the Carlisle community, but it was a welcome one.

We’re talking about the announcement by Penn State that it has $50 million committed to the renovation of Dickinson School of Law’s Trickett Hall.

Originally, Penn State had planned to construct a new building from the ground up and completely remove Trickett from the landscape. This was in keeping with the university’s pledge to treat Carlisle equally with the planned second campus for the law school at University Park, which is supposed to break ground sometime in a few weeks.

But many local residents were aghast at the notion, especially after seeing the unofficial drawings of a proposed new building that were posted inside Trickett Hall. People who live in the adjacent residential area especially were concerned that a modern building would be an eyesore compared to the old-fashioned stone-faced visage of Trickett they were used to, and a petition drive against the modern building was started.

Those complaints were heard, and Penn State committed to a partial preservation of Trickett. But that decision came with its own problems, specifically negative feedback from donors who had conditioned their gifts on the construction of a new building. In May it was announced that only $30 million would be available for the new law school campus — a possible threat to the notion that both law school campuses would be equal.

But last week, Philip McConnaughay, dean of the law school, announced that donors had risen to the challenge and brought the Carlisle campus’ pool of money back up to $50 million. That number includes the $25 million pledged at the outset by Gov. Ed Rendell, $10 million of Penn State’s own money and $15 million in alumni gifts.

Work will now resume on the design of a building that will incorporate Trickett Hall’s appearance while offering expanded and modernized space for the entire law school. Because of the controversy, the twin campuses in Carlisle and University Park will open several months apart, not simultaneously as originally planned.

Nevertheless, the larger commitment of funding and the restarting of the design process will help Carlisle maintain its historic claim as the home of Dickinson School of Law. We had the hunch when Penn State first took over Dickinson Law back in the 1990s that the university might not be satisfied with having such a prestigious institution operate so far from its seat of power in Centre County, and subsequent events proved us right.

Those battles are behind us now, and the future looks bright for the Carlisle campus of Dickinson Law. We anxiously await the unveiling of the design for the new campus.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Penn State finally coughs up some of the dough it promised

http://cumberlink.com/news/opinion/editorial/progress-for-new-law-school-hq/article_fe81b630-36a3-50c6-bd28-bd9ab0cd7d93.html

January 03, 2007 12:00 am  •  
It was a late Christmas present for the Carlisle community, but it was a welcome one.
We’re talking about the announcement by Penn State that it has $50 million committed to the renovation of Dickinson School of Law’s Trickett Hall.
Originally, Penn State had planned to construct a new building from the ground up and completely remove Trickett from the landscape. This was in keeping with the university’s pledge to treat Carlisle equally with the planned second campus for the law school at University Park, which is supposed to break ground sometime in a few weeks.
But many local residents were aghast at the notion, especially after seeing the unofficial drawings of a proposed new building that were posted inside Trickett Hall. People who live in the adjacent residential area especially were concerned that a modern building would be an eyesore compared to the old-fashioned stone-faced visage of Trickett they were used to, and a petition drive against the modern building was started.
Those complaints were heard, and Penn State committed to a partial preservation of Trickett. But that decision came with its own problems, specifically negative feedback from donors who had conditioned their gifts on the construction of a new building. In May it was announced that only $30 million would be available for the new law school campus — a possible threat to the notion that both law school campuses would be equal.
But last week, Philip McConnaughay, dean of the law school, announced that donors had risen to the challenge and brought the Carlisle campus’ pool of money back up to $50 million. That number includes the $25 million pledged at the outset by Gov. Ed Rendell, $10 million of Penn State’s own money and $15 million in alumni gifts.
Work will now resume on the design of a building that will incorporate Trickett Hall’s appearance while offering expanded and modernized space for the entire law school. Because of the controversy, the twin campuses in Carlisle and University Park will open several months apart, not simultaneously as originally planned.
Nevertheless, the larger commitment of funding and the restarting of the design process will help Carlisle maintain its historic claim as the home of Dickinson School of Law. We had the hunch when Penn State first took over Dickinson Law back in the 1990s that the university might not be satisfied with having such a prestigious institution operate so far from its seat of power in Centre County, and subsequent events proved us right.
Those battles are behind us now, and the future looks bright for the Carlisle campus of Dickinson Law. We anxiously await the unveiling of the design for the new campus.