One of the largest gifts ever made to Michigan Law will help revitalize living spaces within the 86-year-old student-housing portion of the Law Quadrangle, according to school officials.
Pending the approval of the board of regents, the $20 million gift from Berkshire Hathaway Vice Chairman Charles T. Munger will pay for the majority of a renovation project inside the Lawyers Club housing complex, said Law School Dean Evan Caminker.
The remaining $19 million of the estimated $39 million cost to complete the work will come from central university investment proceeds and the Lawyers Club, which is run by a separately incorporated, self-sustaining nonprofit organization.
“Taken together, this group of construction projects represents by far the most dramatic improvement in the student environment since the first part of the Law Quadrangle was dedicated in 1925,” Caminker said.
The project will transform student rooms and other living areas inside the buildings while preserving the historic Collegiate Gothic exteriors, he said.
Munger was an undergraduate mathematics student at U-M in the 1940s and went on to graduate from Harvard Law School in 1948.
He founded the Los Angeles law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson and then became vice chair of Berkshire Hathaway in 1978.
In 2007, Munger gave the school $3 million for lighting improvements in public areas of the Law Quadrangle.
Meanwhile, Munger has lectured at various U-M schools and advised the university on its investments.
Regarding the latest gift, school officials say planners are approaching the renovation project with the idea of taking the buildings into the future, while retaining their strong connection to the Law School’s storied past.
Work already is underway on conceptual plans and feasibility studies for the project.
In the two dormitory buildings — the Lawyers Club dorm and the east wing of the John P. Cook dorm building — the work will include extensive interior renovations, technology upgrades, new roofs, fire safety features and energy performance measures, officials said.
In addition, the project will replace the roof and upgrade fire safety features in the Lawyers Club Lounge and dining hall, located on South State Street.
“Charlie Munger has a powerful vision of world-class facilities that will match a world-class law school at the University of Michigan,” said U-M President Mary Sue Coleman. “I am particularly pleased because this gift directly benefits the living-learning experience for our law students.”
Pending approval by the regents, the renovated residence portion of the Lawyers Club will be named “The Charles T. Munger Residences in the Lawyers Club” in honor of the gift.
Construction is expected to begin in early summer 2012 with a goal of completion by fall 2013, officials said.
The university will appoint Hartman-Cox Architects in association with SmithGroup for the project.
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