SLU Law moves to downtown St. Louis

Saint Louis University announced today that it is moving the School of Law to downtown St. Louis from the current location at 3700 Lindell Blvd. on the University's main campus.

With the Law School's more than 1,100 students, faculty and staff, the move will make SLU the largest educational institution located in downtown St. Louis.

The building is located at 100 N. Tucker Blvd., next to the civil courts and a few blocks from the Thomas F. Eagleton U.S. Courthouse.

According to a press release from Saint Louis University, St. Louis businessman Joe H. Scott Sr. and his wife Loretta donated the space.

Scott is the founder and owner of Scott Properties, which owns and manages more than 2 million square feet of office, medical, retail and warehouse space in the St. Louis region. The building once housed offices for AT&T.

The 11-story, 260,000-square-foot building features a main lobby, ground-floor auditorium, a secured, enclosed, three-story parking garage and seven large, occupiable floors.

The new facility will be called the Joe and Loretta Scott Law Center for the SLU School of Law, according to a video tour of the property released today.

The video can be seen at http://vimeo.com/35570584.

"Nearly half of the practicing attorneys in St. Louis are alumni of our School of Law," said University President Lawrence Biondi, S.J. "This historic move will strengthen our ability to educate the next generation of legal leaders in St. Louis and beyond."

The target date to complete this project is early August 2012, in time to welcome students for the beginning of the 2012-2013 academic year, wrote Dean Annette E. Clark in a message to SLU Law alumni and students.

The University has engaged the design services of the Lawrence Group Architects and construction services of Clayco Inc. for the project.

SLU's announcement comes on the heels of Friday's news that due to University expenses outpacing revenue, Saint Louis University is raising tuition and freezing some faculty and staff salaries in an effort to cut costs.