By Maria Carter
Olathe, KS – City and county officials unveiled a plan yesterday to bring a research university and bioscience development to Olathe. KCUR's Maria Carter reports.
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Kansas State University will anchor a research park in Olathe, focused on food safety and other plant and animal biosciences. The city plans to donate land the 90-acre park, but that move awaits approval by the city council. K-State will offer graduate degree programs at the campus and other proposed facilities include a wet lab incubator and office park for bioscience businesses. K-State president Jon Wefald says the project will benefit the entire region by keeping college graduates in the area.
Jon Wefald: We want Kansas to be an intellectual powerhouse for the 21st century. KU and K-State as major research universities are crucial for the economic, political, and cultural future of this state.
K-State, Olathe and the Kansas Bioscience authority say they will reach an agreement on the particulars of the project within the next two to three months.