The University of Windsor plans to proceed with a major renovation of the Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law Building to meet the future needs of the Faculty of Law, interim president Douglas Kneale has announced.

“We can now move forward decisively to choose an architect who will create a state-of-the-art facility for Law in the 21st century,” Dr. Kneale said. “I am confident that the iconic Ron W. Ianni Faculty of Law Building will be brilliantly transformed to meet the needs of our students, staff, and faculty for decades to come.”

The decision follows uncertainty over a proposal to relocate the law school and its 700 students, staff, and faculty to the Paul Martin Sr. Building in downtown Windsor. Earlier this fall, the provincial government said it was taking funding for the Paul Martin project off the table — as well as funding for many other university-related projects in the province — due to budget pressures.

The University now plans to re-engage the successful proponent of a process to reimagine and renovate the Ianni Building that had been completed earlier this year.

Faculty of Law dean Chris Waters said there were some exciting preliminary design ideas put forward during that selection process.

“I can’t wait for us to get started,” he said. “I look forward to the input and support of students, staff, faculty, and alumni in 2019.”

Toronto-based urbanist and author Shawn Micallef recently said in the Faculty of Law’s 50th anniversary publication that “the Ianni building has nearly 50 years of heritage baked into it but also good bones that allow for change…. Designed with law as a social process in mind, this building can continue as an open and welcoming institution by being brought up to current (standards).”

Pending approval from the University’s Board of Governors, construction could begin as early as the summer of 2019 and completed in time for the start of the fall 2021 semester.