SAN DIEGO - A ceremony was held on Tuesday to mark the construction of two research buildings at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla that were paid for in part with federal economic stimulus dollars.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke was at the groundbreaking ceremony.
"Today, we break ground on not one, but two state-of-the-art facilities dedicated to furthering our knowledge of oceans and marine life," Locke said. "This investment will help create and support jobs and add to our storehouse of knowledge about climate and our marine environment."
More than $100 million in economic stimulus funds was allocated to build the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Southwest Fisheries Science Center at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The 120,000-square-foot facility house up to 300 staffers, a laboratory, office and support space and a large sea- and fresh-water Ocean Technology Development Tank. It is scheduled to be completed in October 2011.
Separately, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography was awarded $12 million in economic stimulus money through the National Institute of Standards and Technology toward the construction of a $26 million laboratory building on its campus for research on marine ecosystem forecasting. The job is expected to be completed by late 2012.
