A recent grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior will help develop an energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable design for a Marine Research and Education Center in the Virgin Islands.
“I thank Assistant Secretary Tony Babauta for his approval of the $50,000 grant which will enable the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories to plan its 2010 Student Design Competition,” Gov. John deJongh Jr. said in a statement issued from Government House.
The competition will focus on developing innovative concepts for the proposed Marine Research and Education Center, which is planned for Salt River on St. Croix.
“The Marine Research and Education Center is a visionary project that will provide the people of St. Croix, the U.S. Virgin Islands and the region a world-class facility for students, scientists and the public to learn about our coral reefs,” said Babauta in announcing the grant earlier this week.
The Office of Insular Affairs has contributed more than $2 million to the proposed Marine Research and Education Center, which will be an education, research and museum complex on a 73-acre site at Salt River Bay National Historical Park and Ecological Preserve. The complex will be built to LEED Platinum standards and rely on renewable energy resources.
This latest grant was issued under the Coral Reef Initiative. In November, the Office of Insular Affairs awarded $1.25 million to support the proposed Salt River Bay Marine Research and Education Center.