The Edward A. Doisy Research Center, one of Saint Louis University’s biggest construction projects at the moment, is rapidly nearing its completion. As a result of the center’s progress, an official dedication ceremony has been set for Dec. 7.

However, the center will open for research even sooner.

“We’re right on schedule to get the building done,” said Tom Keefe, vice president for university advancement. Keefe is in charge of the openings of both the research center and the Chaifetz Arena. “We’ll be moving researchers into the building in the near future.”

Before the center’s new occupants-professors and other researchers currently operating in the SLU Hospital and the south campus’ Schwitalla Hall-can move in, the Center must pass “a number of rigorous procedures” for inspection by the National Institute of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Keefe said that the inspections make it hard to declare a specific date for completion of the building.

The date for the official dedication, however, was chosen carefully “after comparing calendars and finding out when everything was going to be finished,” said Keefe. He said that he wanted to make sure that as many as possible of those involved in the building of the Center could attend the dedication.

All members of the University community will be invited to attend the dedication, which will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony and an open house. Keefe said that those in attendance will be able to view many of the center’s anticipated attractions, Keefe said. This will include the conference and reception rooms, a patio on the roof that offers “an impressive vista” and the front lobby, which will display a memorial plaque for Edward A. Doisy.

Doisy is known for his discovery of and research on vitamin K.

The dedication falls one day before one of the university’s quarterly Board of Trustees meetings, so trustees visiting St. Louis from around the country will have the opportunity to attend the opening ceremony.

“We didn’t plan it that way, . but the dates are felicitous,” Keefe said. “It allows more people to participate.”

The dedication date, set a comfortable amount of time after the center actually opens for business, will also allow for some finishing touches to be made on the exterior of the building. A reflection pool and landscaped gardens, paid for by a grant will make up part of the grounds, and “a fleur-de-lis marquee will be the crowning touch, mounted in late November or early December,” Keefe said, “-no pun intended.”