(Wahpeton)– A major construction project is about to get underway at Lakeside Laboratory. Director Mary Skopec says construction of a new $6.4 million Innovation and Discovery Laboratory is still scheduled to get underway this fall…
“We’ve been fundraising for awhile, now, and construction on this new 8,000 square foot laboratory-classroom building will start shortly, actually, I’m hoping. Our old King and Botany Lab will come down first and then we will be starting construction shortly after that. Really excited to see this come to light.”
Skopec says the new facility will nearly double the amount of year-round use currently available at the Waitt Lab…
“The classroom will be able to seat 150 people so we’ll be able to have school groups in there, college students in there, community events in there. It’s going to have a great view of West Lake Okoboji so. It’s going to have floor to ceiling windows and have this great view and then in addition we’ll have a laboratory space. Right now in the Waitt Lab we have the State Hygienic Laboratory, but that space really is pretty much dedicated to their important work so having the new laboratory space will allow researchers and students to do hands-on kind of water quality work or other laboratory scientific explorations.”
Skopec says the project includes another phase as well…
“We’re also hoping to do some work on our residential facilities because they are quite old and need help as well. While we have raised enough money for the lab space, we are still taking donations for that phasing for residential space and other improvements on campus. If people are interested they can reach out to Friends of Lakeside Lab on their website, or to me at Iowa Lakeside Lab.”
Skopec says the State of Iowa is allocating funds to help out with the new laboratory part of the project…
“You know as it happens on college campuses that public-private partnership is real important and so we are pairing those private donations with that state money and are really thankful to our state legislators for providing that push for us.”
Completion of the new laboratory building is slated for September, 2026. Skopec adds camps and other activities at Lakeside Lab will continue as planned during the construction.
