A horse-racing drug-testing lab that has operated from leased space at West Chester University will relocate to a new $94 million facility at Penn Vet's New Bolton Center near Kennett Square.

Construction on the 63,000-square-foot Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory began Oct. 2, Penn Today reported. The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture is sponsoring the project. The building is expected to be finished in 2028, with both labs scheduled to move in during 2029.

The Pennsylvania Equine Toxicology Research Laboratory (PETRL) works from 220 E. Rosedale Ave. in West Chester, according to its accreditation records, and from research space at New Bolton Center. PETRL Director Mary Robinson attended the Oct. 2 groundbreaking alongside Andrew M. Hoffman, Gilbert S. Kahn Dean of Veterinary Medicine at Penn Vet, Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and Lisa Murphy, resident director of the Pennsylvania Animal Diagnostic Laboratory System (PADLS) at New Bolton Center.

PETRL tests about 30,000 post-race and out-of-competition samples a year from Pennsylvania's six racetracks. It is the only U.S. lab accredited to test for gene doping and the only one that can confirm blood-doping agents such as erythropoietin and darbepoetin, according to Penn Vet. The lab holds accreditation under the ISO/IEC 17025 standard and from the Racing Medication Testing Consortium and the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation.

The new building will also house the PADLS operation at New Bolton Center, which ran more than 279,000 diagnostic tests last year. That program is spread across several buildings on the center's upper and lower campuses. PADLS was established in 1991 to protect animal and human health. New Bolton Center runs one of four labs in the statewide system, alongside state and Penn State facilities. The New Bolton Center lab is also part of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network.

"The Commonwealth's investment gives the science that protects Pennsylvania's animals, agriculture, and public health a home equal to its importance," Hoffman said at the Oct. 2 groundbreaking.

SMP Architects is designing the facility, MyChesCo reported. No public comment period or community meeting tied to the project has been announced. West Chester University has not publicly commented on PETRL's planned departure from its leased campus space.