The opening of a new $52 million lab complex in Ankeny this week marked the end of a six-year long effort to consolidate labs with high security and technology needs.

Gov. Tom Vilsack said the new lab was a sign of Iowa’s values of responsibility and collaboration, saving his harsher words for criminals whose evidence would be analyzed in the new facility.

“It’s a hot day for us today, but it’s going to be an even hotter day for those who try to violate the law in this state,” he said.

Four state organizations will be occupying the new facility. Before Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony, the Iowa Department of Public Health — State Medical Examiner, the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation’s Crime Laboratory and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship had already moved to their new offices.

David Baldwin, director of the Midwest Forensics Research Center in Spedding Hall, said the opening of the new labs would also aid the Ames lab in its training and research. The lab researches new methods and technologies in forensic science. It also provides experts to analyze specialized evidence.

“We develop new training and share it with our partners in an 11-state area,” Baldwin said. “The training facilities in the new lab will provide another space besides one on campus where we can do our regional training.”

Ankeny Mayor Merle Johnson said the effects of the labs’ work would be felt around the state.

“This new center is going to affect every Iowan,” he said.

Functions performed by the new complex range from testing the state’s rivers and lakes for water purity to performing autopsies to determine a cause of death. Instruments for these functions range from $130,000 for a digital, real-time X-ray machine to $300,000 for a machine which tests all babies born in Iowa for genetic diseases.

Dr. Julia Goodin, state medical examiner, said the new offices were an improvement from their previous location in downtown Des Moines, which was rented from Polk County.

“We have natural light, the ability to handle a major disaster, and can quarantine potentially infectious agents,” she said.

Because of the new facilities, the State Medical Examiner’s office can also apply for national accreditation.

Other technologies employed in the complex include a latent fingerprints system which searches 45 million prints on file with the FBI, a national database with DNA from unsolved crimes and the crime lab’s collection of more than 3,500 firearms. The offices are key-carded for entry and use video surveillance 24 hours a day.

Des Moines Area Community College is leasing the 22-acre lab site to the state of Iowa for $1 per year. The land is valued at $3 million.