New State Crime lab is on time and on budget

One big state project is on time and under budget. Bids for various parts of a new state crime lab in Ankeny have come in lower than expected. The big addition to the Des Moines Area Community College campus will house the Division of Criminal Investigation, University of Iowa Hygienic lab and ag department labs as well as the new state medical examiner’s office. Planners say they’re agencies that often collaborate on cases so it made sense to locate them together. Construction began last summer and is slated to finish up a year and a half from now. DMACC donated land for the project, which doesn’t risk having its budget cut despite the state’s financial woes, since money was appropriated in 2001. With bids still being taken for some parts of the complex, so far the work’s almost a million dollars under budget.