UWindsor law school staying on campus, 'staged reconstruction' to come

A final decision has been made to renovate and expand the University of Windsor's Faculty of Law building, after years of discussions around moving to the Paul Martin building in the downtown core.

"We'll be finding a permanent home where we are — the Ron Ianni building," said Chris Waters, dean of the Faculty of Law.

Waters said it will take a "significant" reconstruction to make the current building suitable, which he said will be done in stages. 

Will they, won't they?

Plans to renovate of the Ianni Building were made in March after the Liberal government refused to put up funding for the Paul Martin building.

However, the decision was reversed and they announced funding to help the move before calling the election this summer. At that point, the law school considered both the option of moving and renovating the current building as the next step.

In November, the newly elected Progressive Conservative government slashed the funding, squashing plans to use the Paul Martin building. 

"It's been a whirlwind, a little bit. I'm pleased to have some finality," said Waters, who made the announcement on Wednesday. 

'Staged reconstruction' 

Waters said while the Paul Martin building had a lot to offer, he's thrilled to be keep the law school on campus in the Ianni building.

"It's a modernist gem, in many ways. But things like accessibility, natural light in the teaching spaces, flexible learning spaces ... those kinds of things weren't there in the building," said Waters. 

Waters said he expects classes to continue during the "staged reconstruction" but some programs may being shifted out of the law school.

He said that the cost will range between $15 million and $25 million, which was the estimate during the initial request for proposals. 

"We're looking at a full year of design and consultation and then the construction would take place after that," said Waters.