In January 2008 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) awarded a construction contract to replace its National Marine Fisheries Service, Pascagoula, MS, facility that was destroyed by Hurricane Katina in 2005. NOAA awarded the contract, valued at approximately $21 million, to a design/build team led by Walton Construction, LLC, based in Harahan, LA. Other partners in the construction project include HDR (based in Alexandria, VA) and Gibbons Drake and Scott (based in Kansas City, MO).
The new 53,000-square-foot laboratory is being constructed to be more hazard resilient than the facility it replaces, and will enable NOAA to consolidate several previously dispersed programs in the Pascagoula area. The new facility, expected to be completed by fall 2009, will house three Fisheries laboratories — the Southeast Fisheries Science Center (SEFSC); the National Seafood Inspection Laboratory (NSIL); and the Documentation, Approval and Supply Services (DASS) office.
Information supplied by NOAA and Walton Construction, LLC. Photo by Liz Moucka.
