After 10 years of planning, officials at Argonne National Laboratory on Tuesday broke ground on a $34.5 million facility to be used by scientists from around the world to synthesize and study proteins. Building the Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility will create 825 construction jobs and 550 scientific, high-tech and administrative positions, officials said. The project will add $52 million to the Illinois economy annually and draw another $110 million for research activities in its first five years, according to officials. The state of Illinois is paying the $34.5 million for the design and construction of the facility, the third it has funded at the 1,500-acre U.S. Department of Energy site near Lemont.
