As the University of Houston continues to explore new frontiers of scientific research, some of its laboratories are beginning to show their age.

Thanks to a $57 million renovation plan, three of the campus’ older science facilities will be rejuvenated to better serve UH’s ongoing research efforts.

Approved by the UH System Board of Regents and submitted to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for final authorization, this plan calls for significant improvements to the Lamar Fleming, Jr. Building, the Science Building and the Science and Research Building 1 (SR 1).

“These are very old buildings that have not been upgraded in a long, long time,” said Dave Irvin, associate vice president for plant operations. “They don’t meet current fire and mechanical codes, and their structural layouts are not conducive to contemporary lab spaces.”

The immediate project connected to the renovation plan is the addition of a wing to the Fleming building, which will house chemistry and biology labs.

The rest of Fleming will undergo a complete renovation that is scheduled to start July 2010 and conclude one year later.

Irvin said that following the construction, the building would be suited to host geoscience and physics labs and College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics offices and classrooms.