Central State University is one of the 19-strong Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) across the U.S. designated as 1890 Land-Grant institutions. With the Land-Grant status granted to CSU in 2014, the three-part mission of Central State University is progressing in full swing with the construction of the Research and Demonstration Complex (RDC) with groundbreaking in July 2023. RESEARCH & DEMONSTRATION COMPLEX UPDATE
The RDC project will be completed in multiple phases. The initial phase includes building 40,000 square feet, state-of-the-art research building. However, as the tri-part mission evolves, CSU is continuing to develop the Research and Demonstration Complex (RDC) on a 118-acre site, consisting of state-of-the-art research facilities, greenhouses, small-scale farming demonstration plots, a storage facility, an aquaculture facility, a botanical garden, demonstrations of fruit and vegetable production, and processing facilities for value-added agricultural production. The first phase of the state-of-the-art research building is to construct 10,000 square feet of the building’s “shell” (floors, walls, roof, etc.) and core facility. This is scheduled to be completed soon in 2025 through the support of the USDA- National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA). The new research building’s glass-wall design and highway-facing location promote inclusivity and encourage collaboration. It will enable stakeholders to see science on display and engage with researchers and Extension educators. The second phase (10,000 square feet.) will house an advanced core laboratory and offices for faculty members, research staff, and student researchers. The core lab will be a shared facility with specialized equipment that researchers across the university can use to support a wide range of research and development activities. In the third phase (remaining 30,000 square feet), the first floor of the two-floor building will house state-of-the-art research laboratories (fig. 2b) such as food microbiology, precision agriculture and robotics, soil/water research and testing, molecular biology and tissue culture, and genetic engineering and genomics laboratories. All laboratories will have advanced instrumentation for cutting-edge research and outreach activities in Agricultural and Natural Resources Management, Microbiological Quality of Specialty Crops, and Precision Agriculture and Robotics.
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