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University breaks ground on new facility for research on food safety and infectious diseases By Beth Bohn
Kansas State University broke ground on the $50 million K-State Biosecurity Research Institute at 3:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 24. The building site is north of the K-State Veterinary Medicine Complex just off Denison Avenue. "This biosafety level 3 facility will provide an environmentally safe and secure location for K-State scientists to study pathogens that threaten humans, livestock and crops, and to find ways to stop these pathogens from spreading and causing havoc to the nation's food supply and economy," said K-State President Jon Wefald. "Construction of the Biosecurity Research Institute marks another chapter in K-State's long history of dealing with endemic threats to our food supply," Wefald said. "K-State offers numerous programs in pre- and post-harvest food safety and we have more than 130 faculty scientists working on research with relevance to this issue. This facility will allow us to heighten and expand our efforts."Indeed, I think this new K-State building is vital to our national security interests," he said. The institute will include about 34,000 net assignable square feet of laboratory, office space and training space. Construction will start in 2004 and is expected to take two years to complete, said Tom Rawson, K-State vice president of administration and finance. The ground-breaking ceremony will include remarks by Wefald, U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius and Kansas Board of Regents chair Janice DeBauge. Also speaking will be former Kansas Board of Regents member Clay C. Blair III, now chair of the University Research and Development Enhancement Corporation. The eight-member corporation was established by the 2002 Kansas Legislature to oversee design and construction of the Biosafety Research Institute, as well as research facilities at the University of Kansas and Wichita State University — all approved through special legislation. Funding for the institute includes revenue bonds, various federal monies, private cash contributions and gifts-in-kind, Rawson said. Facility architect is Peckham, Guyton, Albers and Viet. The firm, with offices across the country, has considerable experience and expertise in designing facilities similar to the Biosecurity Research Institute. The architectural team features a variety of specialized consultants, including biocontainment specialists, security consultants, meat processing specialists and more. Turner Construction, a worldwide firm that has participated in the construction of biosecurity facilities throughout the country, will provide construction manager at-risk services to the project. According to Ron Trewyn, K-State vice provost for research and dean of the Graduate School, work at the Biosecurity Research Institute will involve the following: • Infectious diseases, especially diseases that affect or could threaten the state's livestock industry. • Research on pathogens that harm the state's food crops. • Exploring food and meat processing methods to bring safer foods and meats to consumers. The institute will feature a pilot meat processing facility with equipment used at meat processing plants, allowing food scientists to test new techniques and equipment to battle food borne disease-causing organisms. • General research on mechanisms animals use to ward off infectious diseases. The institute will have a suite of labs with specialized containment capabilities to allow for the safe and secured work with infectious organisms without the fear of their spread to the general public. • Education and training capabilities in both agricultural and human health fields on containing a disease outbreak, either from an unintentional source or from a terrorist. Winter 2003 |
