UC Davis Breaks Ground on New Vet School Building
DAVIS, Calif. — A ceremonial groundbreaking took place at the University of California, Davis, School of Veterinary Medicine for a new four-story, 76,000-square-foot research building the university plans to dedicate to protecting and improving the health of animals, people and the environment.
The $58.5 million facility marks the first phase in the veterinary school’s $354 million building program.
The new facility, currently named Veterinary Medicine Research Facility 3B, is being constructed in the campus’s health sciences district, northeast of the William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.
The facility is scheduled for completion in December 2012.
The new facility will help unite students, researchers and clinical faculty in one location, ending a 40-year separation that required travel between the core campus and the school’s teaching hospital and nearby laboratories, according to UC Davis Chancellor Linda P.B. Katehi.
"The location and design of Vet Med 3B will enhance student education and promote research collaboration and discovery," said Bennie Osburn, dean of the School of Veterinary Medicine. "Animals, humans and the environment will benefit from the work to be accomplished here."
The new building will bring together 50 faculty members in more than two dozen disciplines and nearly 40 student-faculty research teams, as well as laboratory and support staff, according to university officials.
The facility will house laboratories for various animal health issues, such as issues environmental pollution, food safety, public health and infectious diseases.
The facility will also be home to veterinary medicine extension specialists, food-safety monitoring and diagnostic systems and biosecurity programs.
Plans for the building include two main wings built of light earth-tone concrete with silver-gray aluminum windows and light-filtering sunscreens, according to officials.
The end of each wing will be capped with a vertical tower of silver-gray metal panels, and a glass-and-concrete stair tower will be located next to the southern entrance.
The building is designed to meet LEED Gold standards.
University officials report that state and campus sources are providing $50.8 million to construct the building, with an additional $12 million from private donors, including $7.7 million to help construct the new building and $4.3 million to equip and furnish it.
The facility is the eighth and final building to be constructed as part of Phase 1 of the veterinary school’s $354 million building and facilities program, launched in May 2000.
Future plans for the campus include updating and expanding facilities for the veterinary medical teaching hospital and constructing an additional building near the teaching hospital to further consolidate research programs.