The Boston Redevelopment Authority approved the $172-million expansion and addition to the Boston University School of Law building Thursday, officials said.
Construction on the building at 765 Commonwealth Ave. is set to begin in the winter and will be completed by fall of 2015, said BU spokesman Colin Riley.
The project will provide 1,000 new construction jobs, according a BRA press release.
The new construction will create updated learning and study spaces in the outdated facility, according to the release. The expansion will include space for formal and informal student social space, a dining area, study facilities and additional space for the School’s Professional Education programs.
“[They are] changing it so the building will operate more efficiently,” Riley said.
Classrooms will be on the first three floors in the new, expanded building along with the library and resource center, he said.
The upper floors will be primarily offices so the students will not have to go beyond the lower floors except when meeting with faculty.
The proposed plan will add 95,000 square feet on the west side of the building, according to the release. The interior of the building will also be renovated and updated.
The building needs renovation because of the changing nature of education, Riley said.
Jose Luis Sert designed the 18-story building in 1964, Riley said.
“This building presents unique challenges as far as renovation because it is historical in design,” Riley said. “The outside is going to remain the same except for the expansion, but the interior can be renovated.”
Sumner Redstone, a media executive, donated $18 million in September for the LAW building renovations.
Once the project has a threshold of financial support, of which Redstone’s donation was a large portion, LAW will raise additional funds, Riley said. The remainder will be financed or come from the university’s capital fund.
“We’re grateful to be able to do that,” Riley said. “This continues a long line of improvements and enhancements made to the university’s facilities. This is a very important one because the law school certainly needed it.”
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
