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Building 306 Dedication Ceremony

September 17, 2012

Steny Hoyer and Joseph Spence
Congressmen Hoyer and Area Director Spence compare an unrepaired building with the newly refurbished one behind them.

In 1938, monies were allocated to the Food and Drug Administration for a laboratory building for pharmacology and vitamin work. Work began on Building 306 on September 23, 1938. Due to a shortage of labor, the building wasn't occupied until October 1940. However, for some unknown reason, the FDA never occupied the building and different tenants were found. The Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine (Division of Insects), the Agricultural Marketing Service (Insect Division), and the Soil Conservation Service (Cartographic Division) were the building's first occupants. Work conducted in the building thereafter related to the topic areas of these agencies.



Ribbon Cutting

Area Director Joseph Spence, Congressman Steny Hoyer, City of Greenbelt Mayor Judith F. Davis, and Edward Knipling, ARS Administrator cut the ribbon at the Building 306 Dedication

The newly-renovated Building 306 was one of the many projects on the BARC Deferred Project List that was "Shovel Ready" and funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The project to renovate the building was a gut and rehabilitation contract. All non-structural components of the interior surfaces were removed and replaced with new. The design contract was awarded to STV, Inc. for preparation of Bridging Documents and the design-build contract was awarded to the Whiting-Turner Contracting Company. The total cost to renovate the building was $14,636,836.

Audience listens to Congress Hoyer's remarks.

Building 306 will now be occupied by the Bee Research Laboratory under the leadership of Dr. Jeffrey Pettis. Research in this lab is focused on diseases of honeybees and colony collapse disorder. The Bovine Functional Genomics Laboratory under the leadership of Dr. Erin Connor will also occupy the building. This lab is an internationally recognized leader in the use of genomics to enhance the production of milk by dairy cows.