BRIEF: Site Preparation at Burnham Institute is Ahead of Schedule

By Harry Wessel, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla.

Jul. 11–While the official Oct. 3rd groundbreaking date at Lake Nona for the new Burnham Institute for Medical Research hasn’t changed, the actual groundbreaking may take place days or even weeks earlier than that, the institute’s chief executive officer said this morning.

In a meeting with the Orlando Sentinel’s editorial board, Dr. John Reed said site preparation at Lake Nona is a month ahead of schedule, raising the possibility that construction could begin before Reed, local politicians and civic leaders gather for the ceremonial groundbreaking already slated for the first Wednesday in October.

Reed told the board that a final design for the 175,000-square-foot home of the Burnham Institute’s Florida campus had been completed. He predicted the building would be ready for occupancy by April 1, 2009, with the permanent facility opening for business later that summer.

Meanwhile, Burnham’s temporary facility in Florida’s Blood Centers in south Orlando should open within a week or two, Reed said, which will help the institute, based in La Jolla, Calif., “establish a foothold in the community.”

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