Rhode Island officials broke ground on former Route 195 land in Providence Monday.
The seven story project at the corner of Richmond and Clifford Streets will include a new laboratory for the Rhode Island Department of Health.
Interim RIDOH director Utpala Bandy said the lab will be one of the most important developments in public health in Rhode Island for decades to come, allowing for more flexible responses to emerging threats and for involvement in the expanding field of genome sequencing.
Half of the 165-million-dollar cost is being funded by a federal grant.
There is also a private partner involved, Ancora L&G out of North Carolina, which has a letter of intent from Brown University to lease space.
(Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)