News

January 2010

Officials Break Ground for New USAMRIID Building Project

Top U.S. Army officials and scientists converged on Fort Detrick in Maryland in late 2009 to break ground on a $680 million Research Institute of Infectious Diseases facility. The project, expected to be completed in May 2014, is recognition of a "tough and too often thankless mission ... to save lives and halt outbreaks of deadly diseases," said Maj. Gen. James Gilman, the commanding general of the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick.

The new building will provide more than 800,000 square feet for the research group, including 17,000 square feet of Biosafety Level 4 lab space — used to study the most dangerous biohazards, such as Ebola — and 34,000 square feet of Biosafety Level 3 space, where researchers can work with other harmful agents such as anthrax. The building will be important as the Institute continues to search for treatments for deadly diseases, both for the armed services and for the general public.

The new building is designed to hold more than 950 employees. Noted Col. John Skvorak, commander of the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, "The United States needs the capabilities that the new USAMRIID will bring, but the USAMRIID scientists and technicians, and support and administrative staff, have earned this incredible building through a 40-year record of unwavering dedication to excellence, to science, and above all, to the warfighter."

The USAMRIID facility was designed by HDR CUH2A. Torcon is part of a joint-venture general contractor team with Manhattan Construction.