RALEIGH – The new Agricultural Sciences Center in Raleigh is officially halfway complete. On July 25, the N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services celebrated the project’s Topping Out Ceremony, which marks the installment of the structure’s last steel beam.

The center, which will be located at the corner of Edwards Mill and Reedy Creek roads, will be a total of about 225,000 square feet.

“If you’ve ever been to the Expo Building at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds, that one is about 55,000 square feet. This is going to be five Expo Buildings in one place,” said North Carolina Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler. “When I say ‘massive,’ I mean it has taken about 6,000 cubic yards of concrete so far. We put up about 1,200 tons of steel. The workers have worked about 16,000 man-hours. When this is all said and done, we are going to put 1,400 pieces of equipment in this lab.”

The facility, which is the largest project the NCDA&CS has ever undertaken, is intended to optimize workflow, accommodate modern equipment, and prepare for future program growth and needs. Within the building will be labs and offices for four of the Department of Agriculture's major divisions: Veterinary, Food and Drug Protection, Standards, and Structural Pest Control and Pesticides.

Some officials say the new center is long overdue.

“I look at the buildings we’re occupying now, and most of them are over forty years old,” said Troxler. “Everything has changed in science. You have to maintain temperature levels and humidity levels. In our food and drug lab, we run the air and the heat at the same time. It’s totally inefficient.”

So far, the project has cost $107 million.

According to Troxler, the project’s success can be attributed to all the workers who have spent hundreds of hours building this facility.

“It’s amazing to see the progress and the dedication and the hard work that all of the construction people have put into it,” said Troxler. We talk about the construction companies, but the real work is done by people that have trades such as welding, metal work, and concrete work. All of these disciplines are there at work on this building, so I thank all of the people that have had a hand in making this such a success.”

The Agricultural Sciences Center is projected to open in late fall 2020.