A Request for Proposal has been issued by the University of Windsor to find an architect for a law school building on campus.
The university notified the city, federal and provincial governments that it would no longer pursue the Paul Martin building as a potential new location for its law school back in August of 2017 — citing lack of financial support from the province.
Public Affairs Director John Coleman says the RFP is just the first step toward a possible renovation of the Ron Ianni Law Building. "That would be a small step forward looking at the existing facility and seeing what could be done. That's kind of where that's at right now."
After moving downtown to the Paul Martin Building ceased to be an option, Coleman says the university chose to look inward. "With the one path that the university was on, sort of out of the picture now, there has to be some accommodation for the students in the needed facilities and one place to look is on campus.
As for the new option, Coleman says it's a combination of expansion and improving facilities at the more than 20-year-old building. "The law school has a great reputation therefore there are students who want to get into it, and I think most universities are finding these days that facilities need to be updated to give the best student experience that you can.
There's no timeline for when the RFP's will be complete.
With files from AM800's Teresinha Medeiros