State to seek bids for new Wadsworth lab
$750M project will consolidate state public health research offices
The state is getting ready to seek construction bids to build the new $750 million Wadsworth Center in Albany.
Wadsworth, the state’s public health lab that does everything from rabies testing to research on spinal cord injuries, traces its roots back to 1901 when the state created an antitoxin lab that developed treatments for diseases such as diphtheria and anthrax.
On Wednesday, the state’s Public Authorities Control Board is scheduled to vote on plans to move forward with the construction of the lab.
The vote would pave the way for the Department of Health, which operates Wadsworth, and the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York to issue a request-for-proposals, or RFPS, to contractors seeking to win the job to build the new lab.
“If the PACB approves this plan, an RFP will be released shortly thereafter,” said Health Department spokesman Jeffrey Hammond.
The PACB approves projectrelated financing by the state’s various authorities and its members are appointed by the governor with input from leaders in
the Assembly and state Senate.
Originally, the state had planned on issuing an RFP for the project back in September to a select group of development and construction firms that had demonstrated interest in the project. However, that timetable was pushed back until now.
Wadsworth’s labs and offices are now located in buildings around Albany and Guilderland. The new Wadsworth would be consolidated onto one campus.
Last month, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the new Wadsworth would be built at the Harriman State Office Complex in Albany. The Harriman site was one of three recommended in a report done by the consulting firm Deloitte that examined the best way to modernize Wadsworth and improve its facilities.
The state had previously issued a request-for-qualifications from developers to submit their qualifications to potentially respond to an RFP.
A group of five joint ventures
ended up on a “long list” of companies that might respond to the final RFP. They are: Aecom Tishman/skanska USA, Gilbane Building/turner Construction, The Pike Cos./mccarthy Building Cos., Walsh Group/ Consigli Construction and Suffolk Construction/mckissack & Mckissack.
It’s unclear if all five of the joint ventures, or additional firms, will participate in the RFP process for Wadsworth.
The new Wadsworth lab is expected to also incorporate space for collaboration between private sector companies and state researchers.
Wadsworth scientists hold teaching positions at the University at Albany’s School of Public Health, which is located at Ualbany’s Health Sciences Campus in East Greenbush. That site was considered a potential landing spot for the new Harriman campus until Cuomo decided on the Harriman State Office Campus, which was also recommended as a top site by the Deloitte report.