Groundbreaking Ceremony Marks Start of Construction on
Penn State's Dickinson School of Law Carlisle Facility
Watch the video of the groundbreaking ceremony.
Carlisle, PA (January 23, 2008) - Penn State’s
Dickinson School of Law celebrated the start of
construction of its new $50 million Carlisle construction
and renovation project. The project will feature
a new signature “Lewis Katz Hall,” named
in honor of the principal donor to the project,
philanthropist and businessman, Lewis Katz, whose
$15 million gift to the law school ranks among the
largest gifts in the history of Penn State University.
The building plans also call for the extensive renovation
of a portion of the law school’s existing
facility, which will house the law school’s
unified H. Laddie Montague, Jr. Law Library, named
in honor of H. Laddie Montague, Jr., a prominent
Philadelphia lawyer and trial attorney who has committed
$4 million to the school.
The renovation and construction project is part
of Penn State University’s $110 million plan
for new, completely interconnected law school facilities
in Carlisle and University Park. The Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania is contributing $25 million to the
construction project in Carlisle.
More than 300 hundred people attended the ceremony
which took place on Wednesday, January 23 at 10:30
a.m., at the law school’s historic Carlisle
location. Governor Edward Rendell, Penn State University
President Graham Spanier, Cynthia Baldwin, immediate
past chair of Penn State’s Board of Trustees,
and Philip J. McConnaughay, dean of The Dickinson
School of Law, led the ceremony which included remarks
by Lewis Katz, H. Laddie Montague, Jr., and former
Pennsylvania Attorney General and current Chair
of the Board of Directors of The Hershey Trust Company,
LeRoy Zimmerman.
In his remarks about the Commonwealth’s contribution,
Governor Rendell spoke of his administration’s
commitment to Central Pennsylvania, Carlisle, and
higher education.
President Spanier further stressed the law school’s
bright future, “The scope of Penn State’s
Dickinson School of Law is unprecedented in contemporary
legal education. It is on the leading edge of the
future direction of law schools.”
McConnaughay emphasized that it is the “connection
between Carlisle and University Park that gives
us cause to celebrate the law school’s future
as well as its past and reason to know that the
Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle and in University
Park now enjoys the potential of another 175 years
as remarkable as the past.”
The $50 million project budget, which is $10 million
more than the original capital campaign target,
is composed of $10 million from Penn State, $15
million from private philanthropy, and $25 million
in matching funds from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
The remainder of the Katz and Montague gifts will
benefit the law school's endowment. The school plans
to occupy the new facilities in Carlisle in December
2009. The law school will occupy its new facilities
in University Park in December 2008.
