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| Home >> Prospective Students >> Building Expansion | ||
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| Home >> Prospective Students >> Building Expansion | ||
Building Expansion
In 2007, the Florida Legislature appropriated money to construct a new courthouse for the First District Court of Appeal (1st DCA). The new courthouse will be located in the Southwood area of Tallahassee. The 2007 Florida Legislature also appropriated funds for our law school to plan its move into the building being vacated by the 1st DCA, which is adjacent to our present facilities. Click here for the current plans.
Our case to the Florida Legislature for expansion into the vacated 1st DCA building was simple. It was based on an extensive study by the Florida Department of Management Services (DMS). The DMS study, conducted in the summer and fall of 2006, explored possible alternatives and sites for new space for the 1st DCA and also considered the most cost-effective use of the courthouse building being vacated. A wide range of stakeholders was involved in meetings over a period of many months, including representatives of Florida State University, the Office of the Attorney General of Florida, the Office of the Public Defender, the Florida Department of State and the Office of the State Courts Administrator.
On December 4, 2006, after months of meetings and study, the DMS recommended that the 1st DCA move to Southwood into a new 95,000 square-foot courthouse and that our law school expand into the existing 50,000 square-foot courthouse. The DMS report noted that the number of students at our law school has increased by more than 40 percent since our facilities were last expanded. The DMS report also noted that, for four years, a 46,000 square-foot, $24 million addition to our existing law school facilities has been on Florida State University’s list of projects approved for Challenge Grant funding. Compared to constructing new space at our law school, the University will spend substantially less – only $4.7 million and less than $100 per square foot – to reconfigure the 1st DCA building. This move to the vacated 1st DCA courthouse will give the law school virtually all the space it would have added by building a new $24 million facility. It was this savings to the state that persuaded legislators to appropriate money to the law school to plan its move into the building being vacated by the 1st DCA. Click here for a planning map of the FSU campus, which includes the 1st DCA building.
The acquisition will give us one of the nation’s finest law school facilities for advocacy training.