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Martin H. Levin Advocacy Center Breaks Ground
Thanks to support from Levin College of Law alumni and friends, UF Law faculty, staff and students will soon enjoy a legal advocacy center second to none. The Levin Law Advocacy Center, the core of a $5.2 million construction project will expand legal advocacy education and provide state-of-the-art trial facilities for the college.
Named in honor of Martin H. Levin, son and former colleague of Pensacola attorney and college namesake Fredric G. Levin, the center will put UF Law at the forefront of major law colleges providing students with sophisticated facilities and services.
The impressive stand-alone 20,000 sq. foot center will boast a two-story grand foyer and glass entry with an open staircase that will rise south of Bruton-Geer Hall. It will house a fully functional trial and appellate courtroom on the first floor with a 98-seat gallery, bench for seven judges, a jury box and attorneys’ tables. The courtroom also will accommodate judge’s chambers and a jury deliberation room. The anticipated completion date for the Martin H. Levin Advocacy Center is June 2009.
The project will cause minimal disturbance to the students, faculty and staff. Some construction noise is possible but it will not interfere with any testing period. A construction fence will be placed around the affected area, the staff/faculty parking lot, the south commuter parking, and the sidewalk between Bailey Courtroom and the south parking.
Commuter Lots on UF Campus
- Corry Village South Side (by day there are spaces for commuter parking and at night these spaces change to brown decal).
- Parking Garage 7 (O'Connell Center)
- Large Commuter Lot (North/South Drive)
- In front of Elmore Hall on Radio Road the lot is partially assigned to commuters.
- West Side of Fifield Hall on Hull Road
Consequently, an alternate path from the south parking area has been constructed of mulch to facilitate passage from the south parking to the rear of Bruton-Geer, between the Student Activities Office and the Student Lounge Area. Please note: If you are using a roller bag or wearing high heeled shoes, you may want to consider the drop off at north, west, or east entrance or walking from the south parking to the east access via parking lot and sidewalks on that side.
Approximately 13 parking spaces will be lost in the south commuter lot during the period of construction. This is an opportune time to make use of the popular Carpool program and the Regional Transit System (See bus routes). Disabled Parking is available in the Orange Faculty and Staff lot and access from those spots into the buildings is provided.
In addition, the emergency bluelight near the south commuter lot will be removed during the early phase of construction but will be replaced once the outside construction work is completed. The next closest light is on the north end of the Faculty and Staff parking, west of Bruton-Geer and Bailey Courtroom.
Fred Levin, a 1961 alumnus of the UF law school, contributed $2 million for the center as the lead gift to the University of Florida Levin College of Law. In addition to significant gifts from others, Levin’s gift was matched by the State of Florida Alec P. Courtelis Facilities Enhancement Challenge Grant Program to bring the total contribution to $5.2 million.
Levin is well known as one of the most successful trial attorneys in the country. In 1999 he provided a $10 million cash gift that, with $10 million in state matching funds, moved the college’s endowment into the top 10 of all public law schools in the nation.
Other donors included the Baynard Trust, Robert Montgomery, of Robert M. Montgomery, Jr. & Associates in West Palm Beach, and Robert Kerrigan of Kerrigan, Estess, McLeod & Thompson in Pensacola, both of which have exceptional trial records and were instrumental in representing the State of Florida in its $13 billion settlement against the tobacco industry.
