Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Selects McCarthy to Construct New Research Laboratory.

Business Editors, Health/Medical Writers

ST. LOUIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 22, 2001

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of Atlanta has recently selected McCarthy, one of the nation's leading laboratory builders, to construct its $132 million Building 18 - Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory. Construction is scheduled to begin in September 2001 on the organization's Roybal Campus.

"The research environment at the CDC is a dynamic atmosphere, continually subject to changes resulting from new mandates regarding global health, equipment, methods and staffing levels. This new laboratory is a key component in our systematic plan to keep pace with these changing demands," explained CDC Project Manager Eugene Cole. "McCarthy is a national leader in building state-of-the-art R&D and laboratory facilities. They bring substantial experience on an impressive roster of both private and governmental projects. This factor was critical in our selection of the firm."

"We view this project as our `Super Bowl' of laboratory construction projects, one that we have been working towards for more than 15 years," commented McCarthy Senior Vice President Kevin Lasater. "We will be drawing on our past experience to effectively construct this complex mix of high-level containment laboratory space and functional support space."

The new laboratory will house multiple research activities for CDC's infectious disease program. Designed to meet current and long-term CDC space requirements, the project will likely be completed in two phases. The laboratory will provide approximately 310,500 gross square feet of space for 459 scientific personnel.

Scheduled to be completed in November 2002, Phase I will meet an immediate need for laboratory support and scientific personnel workstations to support existing laboratories on the CDC campus. This six-story, 40,000-gross-square-foot structure will provide dry laboratory space for 184 laboratory staff. Also during this phase, McCarthy will construct a new central plant for steam and chilled water.

Phase II will provide a combination of laboratory, support and scientific personnel workstations. The ten-story, 280,500-gross-square-foot structure will include Biosafety Level 2, Level 3 and Level 4 laboratories. The new Level 4 lab space, known as a "Hot Lab", will double CDC's existing Level 4 capacity. The Hot Lab is one of only five such high-containment laboratories in North America. Also during this phase McCarthy will construct specialty spaces including analytical equipment laboratories, polymerase chain reaction suites, a central glass wash facility and other critical laboratory support space. Phase II will be completed in May 2004. The architect for both phases is CUH2A, Inc., Atlanta.

Portions of the following CDC programs will be housed in the new facility: viral and rickettsial diseases; AIDS, STD and TB laboratory research; bacterial and mycotic diseases; hospital infections; scientific resources; and the government's bioterrorism program.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was founded in 1946. The CDC's current mission is to protect people's health and safety by preventing and controlling disease, injury and disability. Today, there are 11 centers, institutes and offices, with approximately 7,800 employees.

McCarthy currently has more than $750 million in construction contracts for new laboratories throughout the United States. Signature laboratory facilities underway or recently completed include: the Clinical Research Center for the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.; a major R&D and laboratory facility for the University of California, Berkeley; the Interdivisional Research Building for the University of Chicago; and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, St. Louis. McCarthy also is internationally recognized for its construction of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies East Building addition in La Jolla, Calif.

McCarthy (www.mccarthy.com) is one of the nation's oldest privately held construction firms and the nation's 18th largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2000). The firm offers construction management, general contracting and design/build services for laboratory, biotechnical, industrial, healthcare, mixed-use, educational and microelectronics facilities; office buildings; and parking structures. In addition to St. Louis, the firm has offices in Dallas, Texas; Phoenix, Ariz.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Sacramento, San Francisco and Newport Beach, Calif.; Portland, Ore.; and Seattle, Wash.