The University of Pennsylvania Law School is beginning construction on a new building, courtroom and auditorium.
The approximately $30 million project also includes a renovation of the student lounge. Law school officials say the lounge’s facelift will be finished in time for a January 2011 opening.
This summer, crews will demolish Pepper Hall on Sansom Street — one of Penn Law’s four adjoining buildings — and erect in its place a new building with a rooftop garden, state-of-the-art courtroom, 350-seat auditorium and dramatic new glass entrance.

Franklin Pierce Law Center Dean and President John D. Hutson has announced that the school’s affiliation with the University of New Hampshire is right on course.