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Dec. 4 , 2002

Unique Research Building Marks New Era for Veterinary College

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Signaling a new era in scientific discovery and biomedical research, North Carolina State University is poised to break ground on the unique Centennial Biomedical Campus (CBC) at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

The CBC will offer room for industry and government researchers, entrepreneurs, clinical trial companies, and collaborators from other universities to work side by side with college faculty and students, and to share animal care, testing and high-tech imaging facilities. The new campus reflects the growing emphasis on genomic science and biomedical research throughout the university, particularly in areas that involve animal "models" for animal and human health care.

The first addition to the campus will be a $35 million, 100,000-square-foot research building to house genomic scientists, whose laboratories have in many cases outgrown existing college facilities. This has forced scientists to move labs into leased space. Another $17 million will be used for infrastructure improvements.

Groundbreaking for the research building will be held Tuesday, Dec. 10, at 11 a.m. at the College of Veterinary Medicine.

Dean Oscar Fletcher says the Centennial Biomedical Campus is important to the future recruitment of star faculty and students at the College of Veterinary Medicine. "Today's research environment requires the finest state-of-the-art facilities and equipment in order to be competitive in recruitment of new faculty and in obtaining extramural research grant funding, particularly at the federal level. We are planning our facilities and programs in such a way as to maximize interaction among our basic and clinical scientists. This is particularly evident with regard to our thrust in genomic sciences," Fletcher said.
The new Centennial Biomedical Campus will put an emphasis on collaborations and partnerships. "Industry and government partners have thrived on the Centennial Campus over the past decade. We will be using the same model here to develop the Centennial Biomedical Campus. We are very fortunate to be able to go down a proven path that already works at NC State University," Fletcher said.

The 20-year master plan calls for the addition of 1.6 million square feet of space in about 25 laboratory, office, animal care and teaching hospital buildings.

Centennial Campus coordinator Bob Geolas says that the recent university bond referendum will help get the CBC started, but that most of the required financing will come from private investment. The Centennial Financing Authority approved by the N.C. General Assembly also allows the university to borrow capital to build facilities, then lease the space to repay the loan.

This strategy has been a boon to the 15-year-old Centennial Campus, where 60 industry partners now reside. The master plan envisions closely clustered building sites that preserve the bucolic views across the college pastures and farm pond to the historic barns. Land may be leased by industry, university or private developers for office and laboratory buildings. Plans also call for a $40 - 50 million pet hospital addition extending from the existing college facilities.

Depending on the cost of construction and the cost of borrowing money for the project, Fletcher says the CVM will be required to pay approximately $1 million per year for 20 years. "The university is committed to providing approximately $500,000 to help repay this bond debt. The $1 million from the CVM will be collected from overhead revenue generated from extramural research grants. During the past three to four years, our research awards have increased substantially and we have recruitment plans in place to foster additional growth in this area," Fletcher said.

Fletcher also says the new biomedical campus will provide tremendous opportunities for the veterinary medicine faculty to develop strong partnerships with private biomedical companies, research groups and diagnostic laboratories.

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