District employees participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Air Force Research Laboratory’s (AFRL) new Space Sensors and Infrared Radiation Effects Laboratory at Kirtland Air Force Base June 7. The $1.65 million contract for the facility, which will be approximately 6,000 sq. feet, was awarded Sept. 30, 2011 to the GranCor Enterprises, Inc., a local, minority, woman-owned company specializing in environmental remediation and construction. The lab is scheduled to be completed in December.
The new laboratory is replacing an older facility which was originally built as a dining hall in 1958. Because of its age, the older building developed cracks, leaky windows and insufficient heating, cooling and ventilation.
Enduring these deficiencies has impacted the scientists’ ability to conduct research.
The new building is the first of three new laboratories the Corps is helping to construct for AFRL. The Corps is working to award the $1.95 million contract for the second building, the Infrared Radiation Effects Laboratory, in September and expects construction to begin in 2013. The building will be located adjacent to the Space Sensors and Infrared Radiation Effects lab.
A third building will be located next to the first two; however, this final laboratory is still in the early planning stages.