Atwood Research Facility
| Facilities |
The Atwood Research Facility is located right in the heart of Kentucky State University’s main campus (400 East Main Street Frankfort, KY). The Atwood Research Facility was renovated in 1986 from a cafeteria to a research building and contains 17,000 square feet of office space and 17,000 square feet of laboratory space. Until its closure in 2012, the facility housed 10 research groups and approximately 30 faculty and staff members. The building also housed 15 graduate students and 20 graduate students in the College of Agriculture.
The building was closed due to water damage and problems with the HVAC system and has remained closed as finances were secured to renovate. Renovations started in June 2019 with the building expected to reopen to faculty staff, and students of the College of Agriculture in the summer of 2020.
The state-of-the-art facility serves as the main research hub for the Kentucky State University Land Grant Program and its College of Agriculture, Health, and Natural Resources. The facility was completely gutted, and the renovated space provides new research and teaching areas in a student-friendly environment for hands-on training and cutting edge research. The $7.4 million project, funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture, ugraded the 34,510-square-foot facility to house 14 research laboratories, classrooms, a teaching laboratory, and offices for 30 faculty and staff and approximately 100 students.
This new facility will prepare students and stakeholders with training to compete in local, national, and global job markets. Research toward improving economic opportunities for stakeholders in the Commonwealth will be conducted in the areas of hemp medicinal compounds, fruit and vegetable science, pawpaw product development, urban agriculture, ornamental horticulture, livestock nutrition, goat production, honeybee culture and health, soil science, organic agriculture, agroforestry, food safety, human health and nutrition, alternative pesticides, and entomology.