GVSU's Annis Water Resources Institute to build $3.4M field research facility on Muskegon Lake

A new $3.4 million field research facility on the shore of Muskegon Lake will bring new environmental research laboratories, classroom space and dock space to Grand Valley State University's Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute.

The AWRI, which studies freshwater resources and provides education and outreach to preserve those resources, will raze an outdated warehouse structure on its complex at 740 W. Shoreline Dr., Muskegon. In its place, a new two-story building will be constructed next to the existing Lake Michigan Center that will increase the research and educational capacity of the institute.

"One reason we needed an additional building is because during the summer months we bring in 15 to 20 graduate students and are packed to gills," says AWRI Director Alan Steinman. The students are in addition to the institute's 65 staff members.

"Right now, our research labs are totally full," Steinman says. "Our new labs will be designed to look at climate change and invasive species for the 21st Century, so can target the issues and try to come up with solutions."

The 14,800-square-foot building will meet LEED certification criteria and will include, besides the laboratories, a mesocosm (tank) facility, offices for researchers and graduate students and a boat-loading bay for its two research vessels, the D.J. Angus and the W.G. Jackson.

"For every new research scientist we bring in, there tends to be the creation of two to three jobs," Steinman says. "As we move to a knowledge-based economy, having a knowledge-based institution on the lakeshore is always a good thing. This will lead to the creation of jobs, both in the construction [of the facility] and in the growth of the institute."

Construction will begin in August 2012 and wrap up in December 2013.

Architect: Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr and Huber, Inc.

Source: Alan Steinman, Robert B. Annis Water Resources Institute of Grand Valley State University
Writer: Deborah Johnson Wood, Development News Editor