By Alice Collinsworth
As printed in The Edmond Sun, July 26, 2007.

EDMOND – Edmond's OSBI Forensic Science Center will be able to purchase additional equipment and furnishings for its new facility thanks to a grant from the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation Inc., of Ardmore.

Donna Windel, director of granting for the Noble Foundation, toured the OSBI building Tuesday and announced her organization will award a grant for $390,000. The money will be used to purchase forensic testing instruments and office and classroom furnishings.

"This is not only great for OSBI but it's good for the taxpayers as well," OSBI spokeswoman Jessica Brown said this morning. "This means almost $400,000 in furnishings and equipment that won't need to be purchased with taxpayer money. It's a win-win situation for everybody when we can tap into private funding to help us."

The Forensic Science Center, under construction near the University of Central Oklahoma, will include about 75,000 square feet of usable space and will provide expanded space for OSBI's laboratories, offices and technology.

OSBI officials have estimated the facility will employ up to 100 people within 10 years. Current employment is about 80.

Items funded by the grant will support an ongoing partnership between the OSBI and UCO, which has been in existence for more than 20 years, Brown said.

The Noble Foundation was created by oil drilling contractor Lloyd Noble in 1945 in honor of his father, Samuel Roberts Noble.

"The foundation is into research and education and they are very interested in helping college students reach their goals," Brown said. "We're very happy they chose OSBI to be the recipient of this grant money."

A move-in date for the building is planned for November. Brown said the heavy rains this spring and summer have delayed outside work at the building, but interior work is proceeding on schedule.

This article appeared in The Edmond Sun, www.edmondsun.com, on July 26, 2007.