Richmond, Calif.
The new California Public Health Laboratory in Richmond will be one of the nation's largest public health facilities. Scheduled to open in three phases, the first 160,000-sf lab building was dedicated this week. The entire campus is estimated to be completed in 2004 and will contain 700,000-sf of labs, housing 1,300 employees. Six labs currently in Berkeley, Emeryville and Oakland will be consolidated in the new facility, providing space for research and testing of infectious, environmental, and genetic diseases.