The new laboratory animal centre was first announced as much as ten years ago: a modern facility, at the corner of Universiteitssingel and Oxfordlaan. The building permit has long been issued, but not a single activity has taken place so far. Suitable companies have been selected, there has been a lot of negotiating by the Executive Board and the Faculty of Health, Medicine and Life Sciences, but a breakthrough was never achieved.
The price is too high, says Ronald Wilmes, head of real estate. Higher than the investment of 22 million euro that was mentioned until now, he confirms. He does not want to quote exact figures, but it is clear that other options are now being investigated as well, “to make a proper comparative assessment”. One of those options is renovating the existing laboratory animal centre, which has been outdated for years. Andreas Teubner, director of the laboratory animal facility, explained to Observant last year that ‘outdated’ does not mean that the centre doesn’t meet all legal and scientific requirements.
What the renovation plan will look like, whether it is in fact possible to renovate the laboratory animal centre at Uns 50, is currently being studied, according to Wilmes.