BATON ROUGE – Some renovations ordered by the former chancellor of the Louisiana State University law school are being reviewed, university system officials say. The projects being looked at include the office John Costonis moved into after stepping down last summer as chancellor of LSU’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center. Costonis spent nearly $109,000 of state funds for a project dubbed “Center of Civil Law Studies third-floor renovations,” The Advocate of Baton Rouge reported Sunday.
Also being questioned is the renovation of a plaza that Costonis views from his new office, along Highland Road just east of the LSU parade ground. The project initially was approved for $125,000 but cost the law center $315,000, according to LSU records.
The LSU main campus paid $210,000 for related work to the project.
LSU System general counsel Ray Lamonica said the matters are an “aberration” of procedure and substance.
“We’re in the process of coming up with some written policies that address the situation more clearly,” Lamonica said, declining to elaborate.
But Costonis, who still is a tenured professor, and Emmett David, LSU’s facility development director, defended the spending and argued the projects were not unusual.
Lamonica, who also is a law professor, said the office suite should not have cost so much.
“If it’ll benefit you personally and it’s something out of the ordinary, you ought to get the approval of your superior,” Lamonica said. “If we (LSU System officials) made an error, it was in assuming people make common sense judgments.”
But Costonis said the suite is for civil law studies and was a delayed part of a $17 million law center renovation project that he oversaw. The suite renovation was planned before he knew he would move into the office, Costonis said.
The suite also has an assistant’s office, a second faculty office and a foyer. Two smaller offices were combined to create Costonis’ office.
Former LSU System President William Jenkins, who was in charge when the projects were initiated, said the office suite plans seemed modest at first, “and I sent word to Chancellor Costonis that it had to be modest.”
But the total cost exceeding $100,000 “without any doubt should’ve required the president’s approval,” Jenkins said.
As for the outdoor plaza, the LSU Board of Supervisors and Louisiana Board of Regents approved $125,000, which could have reached $150,000 before requiring additional approval, David said.
The total cost ended up at about $525,000, according to LSU records, but David said that amount is confusing because it includes $210,000 from the main campus’ budget for fixing hazards and for a walkway.
