Turner Construction Co. of Kansas City, Mo., has been awarded the construction contract for the new Biomedical Research Center at Kansas University Medical Center.

The University Research and Development Corp. board said Monday the $42.2 million contract was significantly less than the original estimated construction cost of $56.3 million.

“This is just an example where the corporation has looked outside the box in order to streamline state practices and save taxpayers’ dollars,” said Clay Blair, chairman of the board. Blair, former chairman of the Kansas Board of Regents, is a Kansas City businessman and developer.

Besides the Medical Center project, the corporation established by the 2002 Kansas Legislature is working on three other projects:

• A $40 million food safety lab at Kansas State University.
• A $10 million aviation research facility at Wichita State University.
• A $5 million structural biology facility on the KU campus.

Construction will be paid for, in part, with bonds authorized in 2002 as part of the University Research and Development Enhancement Act. Lawmakers approved debt financing up to $120 million for the research buildings.

Operation of the new centers is to be funded through federal research grants.