The next major addition to campus likely will be an expansion
of the Notre Dame Law School.
The project took a giant step forward earlier this year with
a $21 million gift from Frank E. Eck, a 1944 Notre Dame graduate.
The gift, fifth-largest in Notre Dame's history, will go toward
the $57.3 million price tag on the expansion, which entails a
new building, Eck Hall, to be erected on the site of the former
campus post office and connected to the existing law school via
Eck Commons.
Though it doesn't put the fund-raising effort over the top,
the gift is enough to allow the University to hire architects
and begin designing the interior of the facility. The start of
construction is likely still at least two years away.
Eck, chairman of Advanced Drainage Systems of Columbus, Ohio,
has donated more than $35 million to his alma mater. Previous
gifts underwrote construction of the Eck Tennis Pavilion, Frank
Eck Baseball Stadium, and the Eck Center, consisting of a visitors'
center, Alumni Association headquarters and the bookstore. He
also has endowed a library collection in chemical engineering,
his undergraduate major.
(October 2005)
