This proposal requests funding to help us make major improvements in the physical plant of our central Vivarium to improve the health care, efficiency, and versatility of our research animal resource program. We plan to achieve these goals by remodeling segments of the Vivarium into logical functional areas as shown on the master plan and appendices. We propose to improve rodent disease control by installing a barrier and animal cubicles; to improve housing for dogs and limited numbers of farm species in the Vivarium by installing cage runs; and to improve quarantine facilities for primates and cats by remodeling two separate groups of rooms for these purposes. We plan to expand the staging area on the return side of our cage wash service facility to eliminate dirty cage staging in corridors, and to upgrade the lighting throughout the Vivarium to improve the appearance and habitability of the facility. We will make major improvements in the heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system by eliminating zone control in favor of room control, and by increasing air flow rates and residual capacity. We propose to resurface the floors throughout the Vivarium and install wall protection guards in the corridor system. We will also improve our employee locker facilities to provide equal accommodations for males and females; improve our animal treatment, exam, and diet facilities; and make improvements in our experimental surgery suite to facilitate traffic flow, animal preparation, and post operative recovery. We plan to install air curtains and bi-parting doors at docking facilities to improve our ability to control insects, and to install a connecting corridor between core animal corridors to improve equipment circulation patterns and permit the development of the barrier. We are requesting funds for items of equipment for our quarantine room, treatment room, surgery suite, and diet kitchen. We have also requested funds for animal care support and service equipment to improve the efficiency of these operations.
