The scaffolding and steelwork now atop the UA Law Building will soon become an addition that doubles the second floor's space to 97,000 square feet.

The $2.4 million addition will include 14 new offices, an outdoor courtyard, and three seminar rooms on the east side of the building above the college's library.

Joel Seligman, dean of the College of Law, said the addition is an attempt to improve the school's quality without increasing the size of the facility.

The offices and seminar rooms would open up opportunities for more law professors to teach seminars and small classes, he said.

First, the College of Law will invite professors and scholars from other leading schools to spend their sabbatical semesters or years in Tucson. Sabbatical is paid time off from work, which a professor receives every seven years, Seligman said.

Second, scholars in other departments such as philosophy, economics, sociology, and psychology at the UA will be invited to teach in the college, he said.

Last, Seligman said, is the nominal retirement of senior law professors from full-time teaching. With the retirement of these professors, the college could hire a new young scholar and keep the senior professor at a half-time basis since there will be more room available.

"You get one and one-half professors for the price of one," he said.

Overall, the addition will help the college better teach the students and help them advance their legal writing skills, he said.

Conelly Construction started on the project in July, and it is scheduled to be completed by late December, said Paul A. Carlisle, the project superintendent.

The money for the project was private donations from College of Law alumni, he said.

The courtyard will include a full kitchen and will be shaded by fabric, said Edward T. Marley, architect with Swaim Associates, Ltd., who designed the addition.

The addition will have increase the offices with windows, Marley said. The outside of the addition will be similar to the existing building, he added.

Seligman said this is the first of four projects being planned. The others include remodeling the building, recarpeting rooms, adding new tables for classrooms, and repairing damaged chairs, Seligman said.

These are slated for completion by the spring semester.

Seligman said construction should not bother students, because the loudest part of the work was completed over the summer.

Marley said, "Most students know that this is a good thing and can deal with a short-time inconvenience for an upgraded facility."

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