PHILADELPHIA -- Penn's School of Veterinary Medicine breaks ground for its first new building in 25 years in Philadelphia on April 17, 2004. The four-story Teaching and Research Building will be erected adjacent to the Veterinary School on a lot bound by Baltimore, Woodland and University Avenues. Festivities will commence at 4:30 p.m. in the School's Old Quadrangle Courtyard, adjacent to the building site.

The building, designed by Ballinger/Polshek Partnership Architects, will serve as the new academic center of the School in Philadelphia. It will contain five floors, including a vivarium in the basement, two floors of teaching and library space, and two floors of research laboratories.

The estimated cost of the Teaching and Research Building is approximately $54 million. More than $47 million already has been raised from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, other government sources, private foundations, and individual donors. The School is moving ahead with its fund-raising campaign to obtain the remaining $7 million by the summer of this year.

Teaching and Research Building Image Credit: Ballinger/Polshek Partnership Architects