A growing bat research facility based in Colorado is moving ahead with expansion construction plans, despite some community opposition.
The Chiropteran Research Facility is set to be built on the main campus of Colorado State University in Fort Collins and will encompass a 14,000 square foot stand-alone bat vivarium.
The new facility is an extension of the CSU Center for Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, which was established on the campus in 1984, and will be tasked with exploring bat diseases and viruses stemming from zoonotic connections.
The National Institutes of Health earlier announced the awarding of $6.7 million in funding to build the facility at 3105 Rampart Road, some 5 miles to the west of downtown Fort Collins. Additional funding is coming from CSU itself.
University officials expect to see the new facility completed sometime in 2025.
By design, the new facility will be built to replicate a bat habitat, and for the safety of on-site researchers will also include appropriate filtered ventilation and self-closing doors.
Earlier this year the Coloradoan newspaper noted that the bat populations at the new center could number into the hundreds, with the “bats acquired by the U.S. government from other parts of the world.” Those bats will be quarantined and tested for sicknesses before being released to CSU.
The facility has prompted some opposition. An initiative called the Covid Bat Research Moratorium of Colorado wants to put the project on hold, saying that no public input meetings have been held regarding construction of the facility.
On its website, the group also says that more information should be first be compiled regarding a “possible Covid bat lab leak and gain-of-function research in Wuhan, China.”
By Garry Boulard
