A new office and laboratory building at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln High Plains Agricultural Laboratory (HPAL) near Sidney will be dedicated June 19, following the Summer Crops Field Day at HPAL.

The field day will begin at 8 a.m. followed by the new building dedication at noon. More than 50 donors who contributed to the project will be recognized. Lunch will be served at 12:30.

General contractor for the project is Chief Industries. Ground was broken in August 2013 for the 2,800-square-foot building, which will provide office space, a laboratory, and an improved area for processing samples of grain and forage.

A local building project committee and the University of Nebraska Foundation conducted a campaign that raised about $500,000 for the building. It replaces a 1940s-era structure that was part of the Sioux Army Ordnance Depot when the U.S. government gave the property to the university in 1970. The existing building will continue to be used in some capacity for storage or lab space.

Individuals, foundations, and agricultural businesses have supported the project. Chairing the HPAL Building Project Committee is Keith Rexroth of Sidney, who farms in the area and whose father was one of a local development group instrumental in getting the ag lab started. Gary Hergert, interim director at the Panhandle REC, and Tom Nightingale, HPAL manager, provided administrative oversight and leadership of the project during the construction phase.

Directions:  To get to the HPAL take US 385 to the Huntsman Elevator (6 miles north of Sidney or 7 miles south of Gurley), then drive about 2 miles west, then 1/2 mile north.