The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced its plans to expand the Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory on the Muskegon Channel, the Republic informs.
The expansion stipulates $1 million worth renovation of the edifice, intended for maintenance and operation of vessels and its equipment. The construction works are expected to be completed by fall.
The marine facility will encompass about 3,000 square feet in addition to 1,400-square-foot storage facility. The design will incorporate the historic look, characteristic of the main Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory building.
At the same time the structure will be an embodiment of state of the art technology. Namely, it will include several so called green elements, such as restoration of the beach environment, three different types of wind turbines, solar cells and a rain run-off filtration system thus following the policy pursued by the Green Ship initiative, which will also be located at the facility.
“With this investment and expansion, we will have a facility that will match the engineering requirements of our work load here in Muskegon. There needs to be a place and a facility for people to go to concerning our Green Ship program. We will have space for research and development, testing and conferences,” Dennis Donahue NOAA Marine Superintendent stressed.
The new offices will be used by ship crews from various federal agencies and be the venue of engineering and maintenance operations, along with training and education activities.
[mappress]
Offshore WIND staff, April 06, 2012; Image: NOAA