For more than 10 years, Vermont officials have been planning and building capital for a state-of-the-art health lab.
On Monday, the state broke ground at 245 South Park Drive in Colchester.
The new $39 million Department of Health lab will connect directly to the University of Vermont’s Colchester Research Facility, where the College of Medicine carries out clinical biochemistry research. Of that project total, about $30 million is for construction; the rest is for land acquisition, administrative costs and permitting fees.
The design is meant to encourage collaboration between state and academic researchers. The state and the university also hope to take better advantage of economic opportunities, like sharing resources and attracting grant funds.
“The goal is to create a state scientific campus,” said Harry Chen, commissioner of the Health Department, in a public statement. “This collaboration is very much in line with the national trend in health sciences research to build facilities that bridge the distance from the research bench to the community to health policy. This positions us to meet the future challenges of emerging diseases and health threats.”
In late summer or autumn of 2014, the 47,844-square-foot facility will replace the current 32,695-square-foot lab at 195 Colchester Ave., which was built in 1952 and renovated in 1985 to serve solely as a lab.
According to laboratory director Mary Celotti, the aging lab is preventing the Health Department from growing scientifically. The heating, cooling and ventilation systems are outdated, which inhibits experiments and the newest technologies. The lab has reached its electric capacity. And there’s no room for new equipment and personnel, she said.
“We just don’t have the capacity here,” Celotti said. “We want to keep advancing and developing, and this space has really been maxed out.”
Celotti said that the department plans to expand its food testing programs with aid from the Food and Drug Administration. She wants to bulk up the lab’s program for identifying various pathogens using molecular methods. And the department plans to expand its research on antibiotic resistance and arboviruses, like testing for eastern equine encephalitis.
“This is a great day for public health,” Chen said. “The lab is a cornerstone of our ability to protect and promote the health of Vermonters. The new facility will give our professionals the modern scientific environment and space for the new technologies that are essential to support the daily work of disease investigation and environmental testing and monitoring.”
