ANKENY, Iowa (AP)--A new lab complex that combines four state agencies will help make the state a safer place to live, state officials said of the sprawling $52 million building.

The complex, located on the Des Moines Area Community College campus, houses a new state medical examiner's laboratory, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation lab, a central Iowa branch of the University of Iowa Hygienic Lab and the Iowa Department of Agriculture Lab, which will study pesticides and meat products, and certify the state's scales and measurement devices.

The medical examiner's office, once housed in a room at Broadlawn's Medical Center, has more room for autopsies and storage, said Dr. Julie Goodin, state medical examiner.

"This room is probably four times as large as the other autopsy room, so we had to play a dance to get back and forth to get things done, but now we have a lot of space," said Goodin, who was hired as the state's medical examiner in 1999.

The position had been vacant for about two years and once hired, Goodin quickly pushed for a new lab, which now has the office and morgue in the same building.

"We're not transporting evidence and supplies back and forth," she said. "It's all in one facility and that makes it so much easier for us to keep up with everything."

Goodin gave tours of her new lab June 7 during an open house of the new 175,000-square-foot complex.

Goodin and her staff officially moved into the new lab on March 17 and began performing autopsies within three weeks, she said.

The room with stainless steel sinks and counters, has natural lighting. White walls blend into light-colored tile floors with grates. Viewing rooms for police investigators border one side of the autopsy room. Through a door is a special autopsy room used in cases of infectious disease.

Through another door is a special room used for examination of skeletal remains.

In her former office, such exams were all done in the same, cramped room, Goodin said.

"It has enough space to move around in, it has enough space to have autopsy techs and the DCI agents and homicide detectives here all at the same time," she said.

The natural lighting improves the quality of autopsy photos and new digital X-ray equipment helps the staff find bullets or other objects that may be in a body, Goodin said.

The proximity of the DCI lab also helps in criminal investigations by giving agents better access to evidence and autopsy results, she said.

"We don't have to worry about leaving the facility, so it makes it much easier to maintain evidence and record it, and it's much easier to work with them in the same facility," Goodin said.

The DCI lab has a separate area for testing for fingerprints, breath alcohol and toxicology tests, arson and explosives and guns.

One storage room has more than 3,000 guns, including a wall of handguns, all tagged and neatly hanging on a rack. Another room has rifles and shotguns, all collected within the past month, stacked nearly waist high.

Mary Gihlchrist, director of the Iowa Hygenic Laboratory, said having an office in Ankney will improve services statewide. The lab is responsible for monitoring and tracking infectious diseases, conducting water quality tests and screening newborns for genetic disorders.

"It's really a wonderful thing for us and we can serve western and central Iowa in a much more efficient way," she said.

Gov. Tom Vilsack, speaking under the shade of a tent as the temperature hovered near 90 degrees, said the state lab complex is about more security for Iowans.

"It is a hot day for us today but it's going to be an even hotter day for those who try to violate the law in this state because we're going to have a state-of-the art laboratory that's going to make sure we process evidence as quickly and effectively as possible. We're going to have a medical examiner's office that is now up to the quality and standard that is required to keep Iowans safe," he said. "This is absolutely a testimony to the security of Iowans."

Date: 6/23/05

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