JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
On Thursday, government officials broke ground on a new multi-agency state laboratory campus in Jefferson City.
The multi-story, 250,000-square-foot facility is estimated to cost $183 million with construction, expected to be completed by 2026. American Rescue Plan Act funding was allocated to help cover the cost.
State officials say they want Missouri to lead the nation in public safety, health, agricultural production, wildlife and environmental areas. The new laboratory will be home to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, Department of Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, Department of Conservation and Missouri State Highway Patrol, for human, animal, and environmental testing.
Gov. Mike Parson and members of his cabinet attended the ceremony, which was held behind the Missouri State Public Health Laboratory from 2-3 p.m.
Parson told ABC 17 News that the idea for the new lab came after seeing some of the things the state has been through in the past several years.
“Our crime lab, we know they’re outdated. We know going through COVID how critical that was to how much more space we needed, how much more evaluations we needed, how much more research we needed,” Parson said.
In January, Parson suggested a $1.4 million investment to enhance the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Lab. However, with each of the state’s current laboratories aging, it opted to include them all under the same roof to help boost collaboration between the various agencies.
“We had an opportunity to build multiple labs and none of them would just be state-of-the-art labs. We decided, ‘Look let’s get all the agencies together to see if we can’t find a way to build a big enough facility that will take care of all our needs.’ Not only now, but for the future,” Parson said. “I think what we have done here is just remarkable, bringing all the cabinets together, and to be able to say, ‘Yeah we agree with this and we’re gonna get it done.’ That doesn’t very often happen anymore in the world of this arena. It’s a good day for Missourians.”
Members of Parson’s cabinet echoed a similar sentiment.
“Us coming together as state agencies really truly is a historic effort. It also reminds us of our motto ‘The Show Me State,’” Department of Conservation Director Jason Sumners said during the ceremony. “This laboratory campus is certainly showing citizens of the state what it means to work together. As we talked about, this effort to other states and other conservation organizations across the country they certainly are envious of our ability to do this.”
Director of Agriculture Chris Chinn said her department had to collaborate with the Department of Health and Senior Services during the COVID-19 pandemic. According to Chinn, the Department of Agriculture helped provide extra equipment to the DHSS to help with testing. She believes the new facility highlights what Parson’s cabinet is about, being one team.
“When we first talked about this on a cabinet level, I went back to my department, talked to our state veterinarian and our assistant state veterinarian Dr. Strubbert and Dr. Schmidt. And Dr. Scdmidt said ‘Are you kidding me?’ She goes ‘It’s not nice to tease’ and I said ‘No seriously this is something we think can be a possibility, what do you think?’ And she said ‘We would love to be a part of that,’” Chinn said.
The new lab will feature energy-efficient systems to reduce its carbon footprint. The DHSS will use the lab for testing services related to public health and disease, while the MDA will test issues related to animal health and diseases.
The DNR will test a variety of things related to environmental health, such as water quality, air quality and hazardous waste, while the MDC will continue to do lab testing on services related to wild animals. The facility will also serve as an upgraded crime lap for the MSHP and more than 600 law enforcement agencies across the state.