Office of Public Information and Communications Columbia University New York, N.Y. 10027 (212) 854-5573
Columbia Law School will soon break ground for William C. Warren Hall, the new 10-story home of Morningside Heights Legal Services and the Columbia Law Review. Supported by the Law School's $125 million capital campaign, the building will rise on an undeveloped 25-foot lot at 410 West 116th Street, across from the School's main building at 116th and Amsterdam Avenue.
The lower floors of Warren Hall will house the offices of Morningside Heights Legal Services, a renowned clinical program in which Columbia students provide legal support to disadvantaged neighborhood families. Five of the upper floors will be occupied by the offices of the Columbia Law Review, a 95-year-old student-run journal recognized as one of the country's leading legal publications. Additional floors will provide the Law School with space for seminars and classrooms and a conference and reception center.
"I am delighted that we will soon have a new building that will not only provide us with crucial working space, but also honor one of the legends of Columbia Law School," said Dean Lance Liebman.
William C. Warren was the Law School's dean from 1953 to 1970. He has made generous gifts to the school's current building and renovation initiatives, which include an $11 million expansion of its main building, Jerome L. Greene Hall. The architectural firm for the Warren Hall project is James Polshek and Partners, which also designed the new south end, facade and entrance to Greene Hall, now under construction.
Warren Hall will provide approximately 18,500 square feet of space. The $6.7 million construction project is expected to begin soon and be completed for occupancy during the fall semester of 1996. The glass and brick structure will stand between a red brick apartment house and beige brick hotel, both built in 1906, and will mediate their different floor heights, entry elevations and fenestration details. Both older buildings have a clearly defined base, shaft and elaborated capital, and the design of the new structure follows that classical order.
The Polshek firm, which restored Carnegie Hall, is known for creating modern solutions in historical contexts. While fitting comfortably within, and complementing its surroundings, Warren Hall will also reflect its academic use and its period.
William C. Warren is largely responsible for modernizing Columbia Law School. During his tenure as dean he moved the school from Kent Hall to its current site, established the admissions and placement offices, and built up the school's financial resources and alumni support. He has published extensively about law and taxation and continues to practice law at Roberts & Holland in New York City.
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