The new Animal and Food Sciences Laboratories Building in the LSU AgCenter Baton Rouge campus is now open and will be dedicated on Aug. 6. Photo by Olivia McClure News Release Distributed 07/30/14
BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU AgCenter will host a dedication ceremony for its new Animal and Food Sciences Laboratories Building at 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 6.
Gov. Bobby Jindal and East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Kip Holden will attend the dedication, along with LSU and AgCenter officials.
Construction of the two-story, 49,000-square-foot building began in early 2012. It cost about $14 million, which was funded by a direct allocation from the Louisiana Legislature.
The building is home to faculty from the AgCenter’s food, animal and veterinary science disciplines, who had been located in separate facilities with outdated, inadequate laboratories.
The new building’s state-of-the-art labs are outfitted with about $3 million of new equipment, according to Phil Elzer, AgCenter associate vice chancellor for animal sciences and natural resources. The building features shared spaces that can be used by all researchers as well as labs that meet departments’ unique needs, such as an oyster research facility and a sensory lab for food testing. It also includes a classroom, offices, conference rooms and workspace for graduate students.
“This centralized facility will foster collaboration among our scientists and give them access to technologies that will help meet evolving food and animal research needs,” Elzer said. “It’s going to advance our research and teaching capabilities to a new level.”
The Animal and Food Sciences Laboratories Building is located behind the Food Science Building and Francioni Hall on Forestry Lane on LSU Baton Rouge campus. It is near the LSU AgCenter Dairy Store.
Olivia McClure