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| President Bob Suzuki speaks during the unveiling of plans for a $41 million state-of-the-art blood center and headquarters at Cal Poly Pomona's Innovation Village technology park. |
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| President Suzuki, American National Red Cross CEO Marsha Evans and American Red Cross Southern California Blood Region CEO Jay Olmstead look over a model of plans for the blood center on June 16. |
The American Red Cross unveiled plans Monday, June 16, for Southern California?s new $41 million blood center and headquarters. Located in Cal Poly Pomona?s Innovation Village, the facility will be one of the largest blood centers in the world. It is slated to open December 2004.
?I?m proud this world-class facility will be located in a world-class place,? said Jay Olmstead, American Red Cross Southern California Blood Region chief executive officer, during the virtual groundbreaking in the current regional office in Los Angeles. The virtual groundbreaking provided a computer fly-through of the blood center as well as an architectural rendering and question and answer period.
The Red Cross will construct the 190,000-square-feet blood center to serve Southern California?s growing and diverse population. Once completed, it will give the Southern California Region of the Red Cross a strategically located, state-of-the-art facility on a 15-acre parcel.
The facility will also serve as the anchor tenant for Cal Poly Pomona?s Innovation Village, a 65-acre mixed-use technology park designed to provide a setting for interface between the university?s human and technological resources and those of the private sector. It will provide prime educational and research opportunities for Cal Poly Pomona students and faculty as well as create new jobs and economic prospects within neighboring business communities.
?From the beginning, we said we don?t just want a tenant who pays rent every month, but a partner we can collaborate with,? said Cal Poly Pomona President Bob Suzuki. ?We really see [collaboration] as the heart of the partnership.
Also in attendance at the unveiling was Marsha Johnson Evans, American National Red Cross president and chief executive officer.
?Our motto is ?Together, we can save a life.? Today, we break ground to save many lives today and many days to come,? Evans said.
To take a virtual tour of blood centers of the future, visit https://video.cpp.edu/RedCross/BloodCenters-245.asx (for Broadband connections) or https://video.cpp.edu/RedCross/BloodCenters-035.asx (for 56k modem connections).