Second Building in Audubon Park
Opens With Fanfare

The Berrie Pavilion with, left to right, Dr. Herbert Pardes, New York Gov. George Pataki, Russ and Angelica Berrie, Columbia President George Rupp, and U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato.

The Russ Berrie Medical Science Pavilion (formerly known and the Center for Disease Prevention) opened May 30 with a dedication and opening ceremony including distinguished guests and speakers. The roster of special guests included New York Gov. George Pataki; Sen. Alfonse D’Amato; Columbia President George Rupp; Russell Berrie; Walter Burke and Bonnie Burke Himmelman of the Sherman Fairchild Foundation; and Jerry I. Speyer, chairman of Columbia University Trustees. The Berrie Medical Science Pavilion is the first dedicated research facility constructed by Columbia University since the mid-1970s when the Hammer Health Sciences Building was completed. It is the second of five planned structures in the Audubon Biomedical Science and Technology Park. The Mary Woodard Lasker Medical Research Building, the first building constructed in the park, now houses 15 biotechnology companies. Audubon Park is the only university-related research park in New York City.

The completion of the Berrie Pavilion marks another accomplishment in the Health Sciences 10-year capital expansion program that began in 1990. Columbia University is the largest medical research enterprise in New York; the new $66 million, seven-story, 175,000 gross-square-foot facility enhances that enterprise.

The Berrie Pavilion is named for Russ Berrie, founder of Russ Berrie and Company Inc., who donated $13.5 million toward the construction of the facility. Additional financing includes a $10 million gift from the Fairchild Foundation, plus a mix of federal, state, and Columbia University money. The building’s second floor will house the Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center, named in honor of Mr. Berrie’s mother who, like her son, had diabetes. The Columbia Genome Center will occupy two floors in the building. Another floor will be occupied by an expanded research program in pediatrics including a new division of molecular genetics headed by Dr. Rudolph Leibel that is studying the molecular mechanisms that control body weight and mediate susceptibility to diabetes. Other space in the Berrie Pavilion will be dedicated to cancer research.

The structure was designed by the architectural firm of Davis, Brody, Bond & Associates. It is located on the eastern border of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center on St. Nicholas Avenue at 168th Street in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. The building features underground parking, first-floor retail space and a state of the art conference facility.

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