Construction Update
Greetings,
We are writing to report as progress continues on construction of the Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery Building. Final materials are being received now and construction of the non-processing spaces is scheduled to be complete in January.
As mentioned in the September call, additional engineering was required to complete the inspected processing spaces and the biosafety level 2 research laboratory. The University of Wisconsin Board of Regents (BOR) and the State Building Commission (SBC) each need to approve the new work and any increase in the budget.
In collaboration with our project partners (UW System Administration, Wisconsin Department of Administration), we planned on bringing this to the Board of Regents and Building Commission this month. However, the engineering and redesign of components within the unique processing space took longer than anticipated and thus pricing was not secured by the deadline for these meetings. The project partners are fully committed to having this material prepared for the next BOR/SBC meetings, which will be held in February. In the meantime, provisions have been made to begin procurement on long-lead items to prevent any further delays in the opening of the building.
Despite this delay in obtaining BOR and SBC approvals, the entire building is scheduled to be substantially complete in August 2020. Based on the information we have today, we expect faculty and staff to start moving into the building during the fall 2020 semester, with the first undergraduate courses offered during the spring 2021 semester. These dates are approximate, and we will be able to provide a more detailed timeline after the final phase of the project is approved by the State Building Commission.
While construction of the new facility is being completed, the current Meat Science and Muscle Biology Lab will continue to function fully – for teaching, research, Extension, and processing. We are accommodating sponsored research projects to the best of our ability, and Bucky’s Butchery hours have been expanded. New faculty hires will arrive in January and April of 2020, and they will work in our existing spaces and laboratories in the Meat Science and Muscle Biology Lab and Animal Sciences Building until we move into the new facility.
We are grateful for your ongoing support of this project. We also greatly appreciate the support from university leaders, who are committed to providing the necessary expertise and financial resources that will allow this facility to live up to our original vision.
Please watch for our next update in January with news about our search for a program director and additional information on our new faculty members. In the meantime, please visit our website: https://meatsciences.webhosting.cals.wisc.edu/ for programmatic updates.
Sincerely,
Dan Schaefer, Director, Meat Science & Animal Biologics Discovery
Kent Weigel, Chair, Departments of Animal Sciences & Dairy Science