“It’s getting down to the finishing touches at this point,” he said.

The 90,000 gross square-foot facility will include two floors of laboratory space and a 206-seat auditorium as well as classrooms.

Horticulture senior Jackie Grow, president of the MSU Horticulture Club, said she has most of her classes at facilities near the addition and is looking forward to the new auditorium.

“I think it’ll be nice for a new one,” she said. “It’ll be good for the club if we can start (having meetings there).”

Faculty from across a number of different departments are slated to use the building, and the first group should begin moving in this December, said Jim Kells, chair of the Department of Crop and Soil Sciences.

Classes are slated to take place in the new addition next semester.

The addition has been needed for some time to allow for continued growth of plant sciences programs, said Ray Hammerschmidt, chair of the Department of Plant Pathology.

“Plant sciences is one of the strongest areas of research education at MSU,” he said.

Kells said the building itself will expand MSU’s opportunities to engage in cutting-edge research.
“Having this facility is going to be very positive for MSU,” he said.

“Research is really the underpinning of our educational programs.”

Faculty competition for national research grants will receive a boost from the addition, Kells said.

“There (are) always questions about the types of facilities, the equipment available (for research),” he said.

Kells and Hammerschmidt also are optimistic the new addition will lead to greater integration between faculty from different research areas.

The completion of the new addition comes as the proposed merger of the Departments of Crop and Soil Sciences and Plant Pathology makes its way through academic governance.

The process is in the early stages of university approval, Kells and Hammerschmidt said.

If approved by the university, the merger will take effect July 1, 2012.

No faculty positions are slated to be cut as a result of the merger.