After Monkey Deaths, HMS Begins to Repurpose Center

UPDATED: March 24, 2016, at 5:54 p.m.

A year after it closed its beleaguered New England Primate Medical Research Center, Harvard Medical School is considering how to repurpose the space that used to house about 2,000 monkeys.

Last spring, the Medical School closed its Primate Research Center because of what it called an “increasingly challenging” financial situation. More than a dozen monkeys died or were euthanized at the center between 1999 and 2011, prompting animal rights advocates to call for the center’s closure in 2013, when information about the monkey deaths first surfaced. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Agriculture launched an investigation into the primate center.

The now-largely vacant site in Southborough, Mass. sprawls more than 130 acres, and the Medical School is looking for tenants and projects to fill four unused buildings. The Medical School has already demolished three of the older buildings, according to Richard M. Shea, the Medical School's associate dean for campus planning and facilities, but around 140,000 square feet of space remain up for grabs.

Shea said potential uses of the space currently include a backup data center and a “freezer farm,” which would store specimens and samples from Longwood and the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In the meantime, only a maintenance crew and a few administrators populate the buildings.

“There’s not a big rush to do anything. We’re just trying to control our costs,” Shea said.

Animal rights advocates said they hoped Harvard would not use the space to conduct tests on other animals. Alka Chandna, a scientist at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an animal advocacy group, said Harvard should invest more resources in research that does not harm animals. She pointed to the Wyss Institute, a Harvard research group, as an institution conducting more technologically advanced and animal friendly research.

“We think Harvard should be looking forward and really expanding on the good work it has already done in developing non-animal technologies,” Chandna said.

Shea said it is unlikely, albeit possible, that the buildings will house animals again.

Alene G. Anello, a third-year Harvard Law School student who is the president of the Harvard Law School Student Animal Defense Legal Fund, also said Harvard should focus on research methods that do not involve testing animals—primate or otherwise.

“Harvard is already a leader in non-animal methods,” Anello said. “I think it would be great to have a lab that’s just dedicated to non-animal methods.”

The Medical School is also considering selling or leasing the buildings, according to Shea, but has not solidified any plans.

“We have talked informally with some folks who expressed interest, and nothing’s really come to fruition yet,” Shea said. “There’s not a ‘for sale’ sign on it.”

—Staff writer Andrew M. Duehren can be reached at andy.duehren@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @aduehren.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

CORRECTION: March 24, 2016

A previous version of this article incorrectly characterized Alene G. Anello as president of the Student Animal Defense Legal Fund. In fact, she is president of the Harvard Law School Student Animal Defense Legal Fund, a chapter of the national organization.