Construction Update

The NWRC headquarters is located on 43 acres on the Foothills Research Campus of Colorado State University (CSU) in Fort Collins. During fiscal year 2007, several planning and construction activities took place, related to completing the Master Plan for the NWRC site.

Renovation was completed on a portion of the existing Animal Research Building to create Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) laboratory space and animal holding and testing space for ongoing wildlife disease research and diagnostics. BSL-3 level facilities have safeguards that are designed to prevent the spread of agents that may be transmitted through respiration. The renovation created a BSL-3-enhanced laboratory plus two standard animal rooms and six animal cubicles that can be used for BSL-3 animal disease research. This renovated space will be used beginning in the spring of 2007 for BSL-3 research studies, after a break-in period under BSL-2 conditions.

Construction of the Invasive Species Research Building (ISRB) was completed in November 2007. The 25,000-sq-ft ISRB provides NWRC with indoor animal research space specifically designed to hold wild animal species that are not native to the United States. The building is capable of maintaining tropical climates with high humidity and high temperatures and contains a diagnostic imaging laboratory that can provide digital radiography and ultrasound capabilities for all research and animal-care needs on the entire NWRC site.

The last building to be constructed as part of the NWRC Headquarters Master Plan is a new Wildlife Disease Research Building (WDRB). The WDRB will house most of NWRC's BSL-3 disease research and will be constructed to BSL-3-Ag standards. During 2006-2007, the environmental assessment, a written Program of Requirements, and the "30% design" of this anticipated 28,000-sq-ft WDRB were completed. Final design and construction will take place in 2008 and 2009 with a planned completion date in early 2010.