Four properties in and around the former Route 195 land in downtown Providence have been identified as potential sites of a new state health laboratory, Gov. Dan McKee announced Thursday.
The existing, circa-1970s lab on Orms Street is the only Level 3 biosafety facility in Rhode Island equipped to handle dangerous materials, microbes and pathogens, but it has a leaky roof, “sub-standard life safety systems” and outdated heating, cooling and electrical systems.
Last year the McKee administration went out to bid for proposals to build a new lab. Out of the eight responses, the state chose four finalists.
RI officials: Next pandemic, we’ll need a better state lab. Best place for it? Old Route 195 land
Jewelry District: A potential site for a new state health laboratory
All but one of the four final bids proposes building the lab on a piece of the state-controlled land opened for development by the removal of Route 195.
It just so happens the site, now a parking lot behind the Wexford Science and Technology Building, is where the state Health Department said it wanted to build an $85 million health lab last year, before the RFP.
Potential developers for new RI State Health Lab
The three developers proposing to build on the 195 land are:
– Ancora | GRE
– Related Beal and Boston Andes Capital
– Wexford Science & Technology
The other finalist proposal is from Pebb Capital and Lincoln Property Company, for property at 33-51 Bassett St./174 Clifford St., just down the street.
The state health lab requires 80,000 square feet of space and the finalist bids are proposing an additional 62,000 to 118,000 square feet of lab space for private tenants.
The state plans to select the winning proposal by summer.
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This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: RI state health lab down to 4 possible sites for new biosafety facility