Veterinary school project awaits town approval

Ithaca, N.Y. - 8/22/2007 - Cornell University is awaiting final town approval before ramping up for their next construction project: an $80 million, state-of-the-art building to house the Animal Health Diagnostic Center.

After receiving preliminary project approval at the Ithaca Planning Comission public hearing on Aug. 21, the plans are one step closer to officially moving forward on the three-story, 126,000-square-foot facility.

The center, to be jointly operated by Cornell and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, is slated for construction in the northeast corner of Cornell's veterinary medicine complex. The facility will provide testing and diagnostic care for all animals: livestock, horses, pets and wild and exotic creatures.

"Overall, it's a benefit to the state as a whole, because we help protect the food supply. This is a really great opportunity that the state is working with the university to improve the facilities that we currently have," says Bruce Akey, executive director of the animal health diagnostic center.

Harmful substances, necropsy, histopathology, mycology, toxicology, bacteriology, virology and parasitology are among the areas that will be studied at the facility.

The proposed building is being built with a $50 million state grant, $24 million from Cornell and $6 million that Cornell hopes to raise from private sources and through other governmental grants.