Wednesday, November 26, 2008

UNT’s proposed law school faces building issues

By Bryan Shettig of North Texas Daily

The Dallas Municipal Building will house the UNT School of Law once approved by the Texas Legislature and may require extensive remodeling.

Water is leaking into the building from the roof. Two floors are blocked off from foot traffic because they are in disrepair. On the stairs outside the building lies a switchblade that was most likely dropped by a passerby.

UNT's proposed law school in Dallas is going to inhabit a complex with looming renovations from the city of Dallas. The Dallas Municipal Building on the corner of Main and Harwood streets is set to house the school if the Texas Legislature votes to approve it in January.

Among the laundry list of repairs needed are the sealing of the exterior and roof to prevent more water from leaking into the building, mold, faulty elevators, and old power and water utilities.

The complex, which is where Jack Ruby shot Lee Harvey Oswald in 1963, has two buildings, one of which is 95 years old and houses Dallas' municipal courts.

If approved by the legislature, UNT will move into the school in 2011 or 2012, about a year after the courts move to the city's police headquarters on Lamar Street.

"We don't feel like we're inheriting problems," said Cynthia Hall, director of system and external relations for NT.

Hall said the proposed $16 million that Dallas will spend for renovations would be used on the outside of the building, which is letting in water and has old and cracked windows.

Hall said the upper floors, which used to house the police department until 2003, are in bad shape and disrepair. The third and fourth floors are blocked off to foot traffic with a makeshift wall, and regular elevators in the building will not go to them, only service elevators. The elevators that did work on Monday were slow and the floors were filled with holes and had cleaning supplies left in them. Among those third-floor cells was Oswald's detention cell.

Hall said the building is also not up to code with the Americans with Disabilities Act, something that NT will update when it acquires the complex.

Rich Escalante, UNT's vice chancellor for administrative services, said NT is not hiring outside architects for the project, and the university has been working with Dallas officials closely on preserving the historic nature of the building.

UNT officials are unsure how much maintenance will cost each year to run the building but said it should be less than the six figures that the city of Dallas spends annually.

According to a July 10 Daily article, the proposed school of law will be the fifth public one in Texas.

Escalante said the building will have power- and water-saving technology put in place and should be closer to NT's standards of energy certification. It is not certain if the building will be green, though, because it's a remodel.

"It's not going to be without some challenges," Escalante said.

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