A groundbreaking ceremony was held Tuesday, Aug. 12, to begin construction of the Genome Sciences and Bioengineering Building in Seattle.

Speakers at the event included U.S. Senator Patty Murray and Congressman Norm Dicks, who, along with U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell and others, were instrumental in obtaining the federal funding for the new building.

Others speaking at the groundbreaking were Lee Huntsman, interim UW president; Paul Ramsey, vice president for medical affairs and dean of the School of Medicine; Denice Denton, dean of the School of Engineering; Yongmin Kim, chair of bioengineering; and Robert Waterston, chair of genome sciences.

$70 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation enabled the project. Additional funding was provided by the federal government, at $12 million, and $10 million from the Whitaker Foundation. Other private sources contributed toward the $150 million building cost.

All seven speakers, joined by UW Regents William H. Gates and Gerald Grinstein, sporting hardhats and shovels, broke the ground at the construction site west of the UW Health Sciences complex. The building is expected to be completed in 2005.

View video of this event: realplayer | quicktime

Print this article

Email this article to a Collegue