The District will construct its forensics and bioterrorism laboratory three blocks east of L’Enfant Plaza, Mayor Anthony Williams announced Tuesday, moving forward a $253 million project that should end decades of delayed evidence analysis.
The 300,000-square-foot Consolidated Laboratory Facility, slated to open in 2010 on Fourth Street Southwest between School and E streets in Ward 6, will house 500 employees in the police forensic lab, public health lab, medical examiner’s office and D.C. Pretrial Services Agency. A Bio-Safety Level 3 lab will be capable of handling diseases and biological agents such as anthrax, botulism and avian influenza.
“For more than 25 years, the District has had to rely on other agencies to do much of our forensics work for us,” Williams said in a statement. “Having our own lab will greatly speed up the process investigators use to solve crimes that involve DNA.”
The city has long depended on the FBI’s facility at Quantico for forensics work, and while the District is responsible for 30 percent of the work there, the lack of resources has slowed or stalled police investigations. As of September, the District had 1,500 sexual assault cases backloggedfor DNA analysis. The violent crime backlog is expected to grow by between 100 to 200 cases a year.
Technicians employed by the city are training at Quantico with the intention of one day moving to the new facility. The consolidated lab, designed by HOK Architects, does not yet have a director.
D.C. leaders tossed aside nearly 30 site options before choosing the facility’s final location – currently home to the First District police headquarters. Interim City Administrator Ed Reiskin said the “deliberate” process was slowed by logistics, bureaucracy and politics.
The bioterrorism aspect also stood in the way: Williams told Congress earlier this year that “bioterrorism” was erased from the lab’s original title to allay community concerns. But the bio-safety lab will consume only a small percentage of the building, will handle “microscopic” amounts of pathogen and will be designed to stringent specifications, said Reiskin, who briefed the local advisory neighborhood commission Monday.
“We had some questions about various bioterror agents getting loose in the community, and I think we’re still somewhat concerned about it, but people who spoke to us went a long distance toward reassuring us,” said David Sobelsohn, the commissioner who represents the east side of Fourth Street.
The District has set aside $150 million over the next two years for the project and will lobby the federal government for the rest. Construction is expected to start in 2008.
Lab to force public safety shifts
» MPD First District headquarters at 415 Fourth St. SW will be relocated to 225 Virginia Ave. SE.
» Engine Company 13, Battalion 10, at 450 Sixth St. SW will be incorporated into the consolidated lab.
» Fire department headquarters may move to lab location.
