WPRO News

A construction “kick-off” for the new Rhode Island Department of Health laboratory is slated for Monday, with head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention due to take part.

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky will be among a long list of dignitaries and speakers scheduled to attend the event at the corner of Richmond and Clifford Streets in Providence, land reclaimed from the re-routing of Interstate 195.

The CDC issued a nearly $82 million grant toward the project, which carries an overall cost of $165 million.

The state plans a new, 212,000 square foot, seven-story building that will include the new state health lab, life sciences laboratories for Brown University and additional bio-technology space.

Governor Dan McKee, the entire Rhode Island Congressional delegation, legislative leaders and health officials are expected to speak, according to an advisory from the governor’s office.

The new lab would replace the existing state health laboratory on Orms Street, which is said by officials to be outdated.