Boston Redevelopment Authority Board Approves Biosafety Laboratory
Boston University Medical Center
December 15, 2004
Following a significant public outreach and review process, the Boston Redevelopment Authority (BRA) Board granted final approvals for the Boston University Medical Center’s BioSquare Phase II project, that includes a biosafety level 4 laboratory. The Board vote represents a significant milestone and one of the last in the city’s approval process. The project will be heard before the Zoning Commission next month. BioSquare II includes the development of 410,000 square feet of medical research space, including the Biosafety Laboratory and a 1,400 parking space garage. When all phases of BioSquare are complete (I and II), there will be 1.14 million square feet of research space at BioSquare. It is located on Albany Street in the South End.
“We are delighted that the BRA Board has voted to approve the Biosafety Laboratory. With this approval, the project moves closer toward the goal of the laboratory: finding cures and saving lives,” said Richard J. Towle, Senior Vice President, Boston University.
In 2003, Boston University Medical Center was awarded $128 million by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, to construct a Biosafety Laboratory. These research facilities are part of a national network that will develop drugs, vaccines and treatments against emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases so that they no longer will pose a threat to public health. The research will be conducted on emerging infectious diseases that either occur naturally or could be introduced as agents of bioterrorism.