An agricultural appropriations bill signed into law last Thursday by President George W. Bush will allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture to update facilities located in Ames.

The funding measure appropriates $58.8 million for the construction and renovation of facilities used by the National Animal Disease Center, 2300 Dayton Road, the National Veterinary Services Laboratory and the Center for Veterinary Biologics, all organizations within the USDA.

Jim Harp, research program representative for National Animal Disease Center who worked extensively with the modernization program, said much of the new funding will go toward the construction of new animal facilities for the NADC.

“I’m very excited because we’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” Harp said. “This is a huge piece of the puzzle for us.”

He said the buildings that are to be replaced with new facilities were built in 1961.

“We need this pretty badly,” he said. “These are aging facilities we’re talking about here, and they need to be replaced.”

Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa, who was invited to the White House to watch Bush sign the bill, has been working to secure funding for the USDA organizations since 1999.

James Carstensen, communications director for Latham, said the congressman has toured the Ames facilities several times.

“[Latham] feels this kind of funding is important because this is the nation’s top facility for fighting animal disease,” Carstensen said. “The NADC is seen worldwide as an authority on animal disease, and the upgrades were definitely needed.”

He said the recent $58.8 million is the last in a series of appropriations Latham has worked to secure for the NADC and other USDA organizations. During the past six years, he said, the appropriations total $462 million.

Harp said the new facilities will allow the NADC to work more closely with the National Veterinary Services Laboratory and the Center for Veterinary Biologics.

“This isn’t going to change what the agencies do, but we’ll be physically closer and able to interact with each other more efficiently, and that’s critical,” he said.

Construction has just started on a 500,000-square-foot laboratory on Dayton Road, he said, that is scheduled to become operational during spring 2008.

He said another laboratory funded by recent appropriations has already been completed and has been in use since September 2004.