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March 17, 2003
Sinsheimer fire reconstruction completed, labs
reoccupied
By Tim Stephens
Work crews have finished the reconstruction of two labs in the Sinsheimer
Laboratories Building that were destroyed in a fire on January
11, 2002. Researchers reoccupied the new labs last month.
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| The fire gutted Manuel Ares's lab and the
one next to it. Photo: Don Harris, UCSC Photo Services |
"It feels pretty good to be moved back in," said Manuel
Ares, professor of molecular, cell, and developmental (MCD) biology,
whose research group has been working out of borrowed lab space for
the past year.
The reconstruction project was completed in a very short
time considering
the amount of work involved, said David Kliger, dean of physical and
biological sciences.
"We were able to recover from the fire and complete
this project
because of the work and cooperation of many people within
our division
and across the campus. Their commitment to help our faculty return to
their research facilities has been extraordinary,"
Kliger said.
The fire gutted Ares's lab and the lab adjacent to it, which belonged
to Jane Silverthorne, associate professor of MCD biology. Silverthorne's
laboratory was not active at the time because she has been on leave
at the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Arlington, Va., where she
serves as a program director in NSF's biological sciences directorate.
Stephen Ayraud, principal engineer in Physical Planning
and Construction,
said the entire area occupied by the two labs in the southwest corner
of the fourth floor had to be demolished and rebuilt to
current codes,
including wall framing and utilities.
"We started almost immediately after the fire, contacting the
original architect and working with the researchers to
design the renovation,"
Ayraud said.
Alan Zahler, associate professor of MCD biology, has now moved his
research lab across the hall into the space formerly occupied by Silverthorne's
lab. And Harry Noller, Sinsheimer Professor of Molecular Biology, has
moved part of his lab group from the third floor into the space vacated
by Zahler, so that all of his research labs are now on the fourth floor.
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