U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman said President Bush will include nearly $200 million needed to fully fund the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Center for Animal Health Disease renovation and expansion project for the 2005 fiscal year during a visit to Ames Tuesday.

Previously, the USDA renovation was $178 million short of the $460 million needed to complete renovation and addition to the complex, located at 2300 Dayton Ave.

“If approved by Congress, these funds would permit us to fully complete this project by the end of 2007,” Veneman said.

Her speech was delivered to members of the Ames Chamber of Commerce at the Quality Inn and Suites Starlite Village Conference Center, 2301 E. 13th St. Earlier, Veneman attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the addition of the large animal house and training facility to the $460 million complex with Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

The addition will help the U.S. Department of Agriculture provide needed support for battling bioterrorism and emerging animal diseases.

The center, when completed, is expected to cover nearly 1 million square feet and contain both a pathobiology laboratory and a diagnostic bacteriology laboratory, Veneman said. The center will also serve as the most modern and best-equipped animal disease research facility in the world, she said.

Veneman said the renovated complex will bring together the Center for Veterinary Biologics, the National Veterinary Services Laboratory and the National Animal Disease Center.

Kim Brogden, Agricultural Research Services research program representative, said a newly renovated complex will develop the department in three ways.

“First, it will increase our ability to do animal disease research. Secondly, it will increase our response time in cases of emerging animal diseases. And it will increase our capacity to regulate new veterinary biologics,” Brogden said.

The purpose of the project is to consolidate the work of the three centers located in Ames, which are currently spread across the city, he said. The new development is expected to provide a central location for the USDA.

Veneman explained the progress being made by the Bush administration and the USDA in completing the project. Contract procedures and construction techniques that will accelerate the renovation will likely be employed in order to meet the ambitious deadline.

The USDA’s work in Ames is very important, particularly in light of the mad cow disease outbreak in Washington state three weeks ago, Veneman said. It was the National Veterinary Services Laboratory that was responsible for the first confirmation of the diseases’ existence in the United States.

“It is hard to overstate the value of our centers here in Ames,” she said.