From the Ground Up: Missouri State University Small Animal Education Center

Owner: Missouri State University
General contractor: Crossland Construction Co. Inc.
Architect: nForm Architecture LLC
Engineers: CJW Transportation Consultants LLC, civil; J&M Engineering LLC, structural; and Interpres Building Solutions LLC, mechanical, electrical and plumbing
Size: 10,365 square feet
Cost: $4 million
Funding source: Darr Family Foundation and Missouri State University Foundation
Estimated completion: June
Project description: Going up at Missouri State University’s 125-acre William H. Darr Agricultural Center on Kansas Expressway is the Small Animal Education Center. The center will serve students in the university’s livestock education program by expanding programs and providing the first teaching laboratory at the Darr Agricultural Center. Bid documents prepared by MSU specify a preengineered metal building to include a treatment room, a group activity and training lab, a teaching lab and, for the animals, six indoor and outdoor runs and an outdoor play area. A $6.5 million donation from the Darr Family Foundation partially funded this project and the $5.5 million agricultural magnet school, in partnership with Springfield Public Schools, that is adjacent to the animal center.