43,000-square-foot, 2-story addition in the works for this Penn State laboratory
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sketch plans propose a 43,000‑square‑foot addition to PSU’s animal diagnostic lab.
- No cost has been identified for the project.
- Officials expect an overall three‑to‑four year construction timeline.
A laboratory at Penn State could soon be getting a new addition, as indicated by sketch plans presented to the College Township Planning Commission at their meeting Tuesday.
Penn State’s animal diagnostic lab, located at 131 Pastureview Road on the northern side of campus, provides services to protect the health of both animals and humans by ensuring food safety through the early detection and monitoring of diseases in various animals.
The lab is composed of a north wing, south wing and main space between them, but the sketch plans would see a 43,000-square-foot, two-story addition built on what’s now the staff parking lot to expand services. The pre-existing building’s south wing would be demolished for a new lot.
Penn State Project Manager Jeff Spackman said that it’s “too early” for the project’s price tag to be determined.
The sketch plan also calls for the realignment of Pastureview Road, the construction of a small utility yard, the relocation of two entomology trailers that are currently located on the lab’s property and the widening of the nearby Wiley and Diagnostic roads. There’s also a particular order to how the project’s many aspects must be carried out.
“This [complete lab sketch plan] is the whole puzzle,” said Paul Politza, a representative of infrastructure consulting company Gannett Flemming Transystems. “There are a bunch of pieces that have to go along with it, that we’ll have to lay out in our [future development plan] submissions.”
Politza expects official plans for the realignment, road widenings and trailer relocations to be submitted sometime in January, with the remaining plans to be submitted later in the spring. He also estimated that the overall project would take “three or four years” to complete.
Because the plans were only sketch plans, the planning commission did not have to take action on anything, and little discussion was had. The sketch plans will also be viewed by the township’s council at their 7 p.m. meeting this Thursday.
Moving forward, official development plans will be submitted to and viewed by the township’s planning commission, which meets at 7 p.m. on the first and third Tuesdays of the month. If approved, the plans will then move onto the township’s council for review, which meets at 7 p.m. on the first and third Thursdays of the month.