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.