But basement-level shell space at the Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital in Columbia, MO, was available, and it became one of three options investigated for the hospital's new research laboratories.
Compared to other alternatives, which included renovating existing occupied spaces and constructing a new building, the unfinished shell space didn't look half bad. It was centrally located near the researchers' existing labs. An underground tunnel connected the space to the University of Missouri across the street. (Research performed in the space was to be a collaboration of the Veterans Administration and the university.) Perhaps most notably, it had sewer lines, water mains, and other central utilities already in place, promising significant cost savings.