A proposed $1 billion economic stimulus package announced today by Gov. Gray Davis at the University of California, Davis, will include $66.1 million to fully fund and accelerate completion of a new $77 million building for the campus' School of Veterinary Medicine.

The building is a key component of a $354 million long-range facilities plan for the veterinary school, designed to restore the school's full accreditation status and prepare for enrollment and academic growth anticipated for the next decade. The campus already has received $11 million in planning and infrastructure-improvement money from the state for this project.

UC Davis is one of seven UC campuses that could receive a combined $279 million for construction projects from the proposed stimulus package, which must go to the legislature for approval during the normal budget process.

"The governor's visionary economic stimulus package is good news for the University of California and for the State of California," said UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef. "We are grateful at UC Davis that the new facility for the School of Veterinary Medicine has been included in this plan and eager to play a role in the revitalization of California's economy."

"Funding of this new facility forms the cornerstone for restoration of our full accreditation, and this public investment will strengthen the school's ongoing ability to offer Californians access to veterinary care for pets, livestock and poultry; protection of public health and food safety; and other activities benefiting animal, human and environmental health," said Bennie Osburn, dean of the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. "We thank Gov. Davis for his recognition of our school and advocacy of this bold solution for veterinary education."

UC Davis' School of Veterinary Medicine is the largest of the nation's 27 veterinary institutions and California's only public veterinary school. It trains students for veterinary practice related to companion animal, livestock and wildlife health as well as careers in public and environmental health.

The newly funded building will be a 125,000-square-foot teaching, research and clinical facility, to be located northwest of the campus's Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital. Referred to as Veterinary Medicine 3A during the planning process, this facility will house teaching laboratories, faculty research laboratories, research support services, academic offices, clinical services and administrative offices. The building is planned for completion in 2005.

The need for improved teaching and research facilities for the veterinary school was cited in 1998 by the American Veterinary Medical Association's accreditation committee when it visited the school for its routine accreditation review. While the school passed the review with flying colors in all other areas, it was placed on "limited accreditation" -- a probationary status -- for its facilities shortfalls.

To meet this need for new and improved facilities, several other construction projects are either under way or pending near the veterinary teaching hospital.

The campus is funding a new $24 million Veterinary Medicine Instructional Facility, containing classrooms, laboratories, teaching facilities and a student learning center. This 59,550-square-foot building will be located northeast of the veterinary hospital, complementing the adjacent Veterinary Medicine 3A building. It is slated for completion in 2004.

A 63,000-square-foot Veterinary Medicine Instructional Laboratory is now under construction on Garrod Drive, southwest of the veterinary hospital. It will be completed in fall 2002 and will include instructional surgery suites for veterinary students, animal-holding facilities for both large and small animals, a facility for canine blood donors and an instructional lecture hall. It also will have exercise runs for dogs and other small animals, plus a pasture for large animals.

Construction will begin this year on a 20,000-square-foot Equine Athletic Performance Laboratory on the east side of Garrod Drive, just south of the veterinary hospital. This single-story building will include a laboratory with three horse-size treadmills, an automated walker for exercising horses, a round pen and large-animal holding facilities.

In addition, groundbreaking ceremonies were held this fall for an expanded Center for Companion Animal Health, to be built southeast of the veterinary hospital next to the existing Veterinary Medicine 2 building. The expanded 33,000-square-foot facility, containing laboratories, clinical cancer treatment areas and teaching space, was funded through private gifts.

A future $9 million expansion of the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital also is on the drawing boards, designed to better serve clients and their animals.

The other UC campuses included in the governor's proposed economic stimulus package are UC Irvine with $55.3 million for a biological and physical sciences laboratory building, UC Riverside with $35.7 million for an engineering teaching and research building, UC San Diego with $37.4 million for an engineering and computer science facility, UC Santa Barbara with $26.9 million for a biological sciences teaching and research building, UC Santa Cruz with $41.2 million for an engineering research and instruction building, and UC Merced with $16.4 million for infrastructure development.