BAR HARBOR – Jackson Laboratory celebrated its 77th year of operation Friday by ceremonially opening its new $26 million research facility on its Mount Desert Island campus.

The lab’s continuing growth, and its ever-growing importance to the economy of eastern Maine, was evident by the class of public servants who attended the event. Gov. John Baldacci, Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, and U.S. Rep. Tom Allen all were on hand to comment on the lab’s economic and scientific significance and to participate in the ceremonial ribbon-cutting.

Jackson Laboratory, which specializes in studying mice to further genetics and disease research, has a global scientific reputation and is one of the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Centers.

Dr. Richard Woychik, Jackson Lab’s director, said the new East Research Building has 50,000 square feet of state-of-the-art lab space for “wet” research and computational science. Opening the facility will enable the lab to add 125 positions to its current total of 1,300 employees, he said.

“This will create high-paying, high quality jobs,” Woychik said. “It’s clear this facility is second to none.”

All the politicians who spoke referred to the lab’s importance, but only one made reference to what he said was an effort in the United States to undermine scientific learning.

“Politically, science is under attack here,” Rep. Tom Allen said.

Allen did not name any specific politician or organization, but did mention the fight over federal funding for stem cell research, which has been opposed by the administration of President George Bush. He also referred to a movement that has cropped up in Georgia, Kansas and other states aimed at promoting creationism in schools.

“We have a challenge today … to make sure the public understands that our progress as human beings depends on science,” Allen said.

Baldacci, who arrived a few minutes late because he was stuck in traffic caused by an accident on Route 3 in Trenton, said that in the past five years the lab has attracted $187 million in government funding and created 500 new jobs. He said the state wants to increase its annual funding for research and development, which is currently around $150 million.

“By 2010, we want the state to contribute on an annual basis $250 million in research and development,” he said. “It’s incredibly important.”

Sen. Snowe said that $250,000 in federal funding went toward equipment in the building’s lab spaces. She assured those at the opening that Maine’s congressional delegation will continue to recognize the importance of the lab, which is the largest employer in Hancock County and one of the 10 largest in Maine.

“We will leave no stone unturned to make sure this bastion of science gets the funding that it needs,” Snowe said.

The opening was part of events scheduled around the lab’s 77th anniversary. The lab’s annual meeting and annual dinner, which was at the Bar Harbor Club on West Street, also were held Friday.

Idexx Laboratories CEO David Shaw – who attended with his wife, Hollywood actress Glenn Close – and well-known furniture maker Thomas Moser spoke at the dinner at which the Fraternal Order of Eagles donated $80,000 to the lab for heart research.