“Alonzo” Award Presented to TJSL
November 16, 2011
The Downtown San Diego Partnership (DSDP) has named Thomas Jefferson School of Law as one of the recipients of its 49th Annual Alonzo Awards, which honor people, projects and programs that have significantly contributed to the revitalization and renewal of downtown San Diego during the past year. This meaningful honor comes just three weeks after the law school was honored with two prestigious “Orchid” awards from the San Diego Architectural Foundation.
The Alonzo Awards were presented on Wednesday, Nov. 16, before a sold-out dinner crowd of more than 500 people at the Omni San Diego Hotel. Alonzo Horton, for whom the Alonzo Awards and the Horton Plaza shopping center are named, originally purchased most of the land in downtown San Diego in the 1860s, envisioning it as a center of commerce for San Diego.
The award for TJSL was announced by DSDP Board Member Sherm Harmer, the principal of Urban Housing Partners, Inc., who said the law school’s “innovative new building is sure to have a very significant impact on our community.”
Former long-time Chair of the TJSL Board of Trustees, Samuel (Sandy) Kahn, accepted the Alonzo Award on stage on behalf of the law school and Dean Rudy Hasl, who had a previous out-of-town engagement. Kahn, who is now Chairman Emeritus and Of Counsel to the Board, devoted countless hours working side-by-side with Dean Hasl on the location, financing and construction of TJSL’s new state of the art campus in the East Village. Kahn is a native San Diegan and real estate developer whose late father, Irvin Kahn, developed a good sized portion of the developable land within the city of San Diego. Kahn’s wife, Suzanne, is a graduate of Thomas Jefferson School of Law.
Kahn graciously expressed gratitude to the DSDP Board with these words: “Thank you on behalf of the (TJSL) Board of Trustees, faculty, staff and our more than 1,000 students. We’re honored to have become a vital part of the East Village and all of downtown San Diego.”
“Our selection for this award confirms the significance of our relocation to the East Village area to the revitalization of the area,” said Dean Hasl. “We are very happy to have built an architecturally significant building that adds to the vitality of San Diego.”
(Also see ABC Awards below)
In addition to TJSL, the DSDP also honored the USS Midway Museum and the North Embarcadero Visionary Plan with Alonzo Awards, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority for Sustainable Business Practices, San Diego County Supervisors Ron Roberts and Greg Cox with the Vic Kops Humanitarian Award, The Irvine Company and EvoNexus with the President’s Award, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders with the Chairman’s Award, and past interim CEO of the Centre City Development Corporation Fred Maas with the Founder’s Award.
“We congratulate these Alonzo-worthy efforts that enrich our daily lives in downtown San Diego,” said DSDP President Kris Michell. “Our beautiful city thrives on the vital investment of time, money and brain power from some of the country’s finest.”
The DSDP is a privately funded non-profit business organization formed in 1993 whose membership consists of companies and individuals committed to strengthening the business, residential and cultural environment of Downtown San Diego. Its mission is to advance Downtown San Diego as the leading economic, cultural and governmental center of the region through leadership, advocacy and education.
TJSL Sub-Contractor Wins Top Project Award
The Alonzo Award is not the only recent award associated with the new Thomas Jefferson School of Law Downtown Campus.
Gould Electric, a company that played a pivotal role in the construction of the new TJSL, has received the “Top Project Award” by a Sub-Contractor at The Association of Builders and Contractors Excellence in Construction Awards held November 17. According to the ABC’s official news release, “Gould Electric used IBM technology, schematic design, unique layout techniques to construct accurate plans, and prefabrication to complete the project on time and on budget.”
TJSL Dean Rudy Hasl said, “The School of Law was able to work creatively with Gould Electric and other subcontractors on the job to make design adjustments that reinforced the overall conceptual plan and intended spirit for the building, resulting in an aesthetically beautiful, highly functional, and extraordinary addition to the San Diego architectural landscape.”
The new campus, which TJSL opened in January 2011, is expecting to receive LEED Gold Certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.