LOS ANGELES — The American Red Cross unveiled plans Monday for the nation's largest blood processing facility, to be built at Cal Poly Pomona, in a "virtual groundbreaking" at its Blood Services region headquarters.

Though there were no shovels or dirt involved in the ceremony, modern technology provided participants with a first look through computer graphics, architectural renderings and a virtual "fly-through" of the $41.6 million, state-of-the-art blood center.

The 190,000-square-foot building will be the new Southern California regional headquarters, replacing the existing Los Angeles offices built in 1951. The new facility is slated to open in December 2004.

"The new facility will be capable of handling future growth and (accommodating) advances in medicine and technology," said Jay Olmstead, American Red Cross Southern California Blood Services Region CEO. "It will be a world-class facility located at a world-class institution."

The new headquarters will be built on a 15-acre parcel at Cal Poly Pomona's Innovation Village technology park. It will be the Village's largest tenant, with a 4.2-acre expansion option to accommodate growth, according to Red Cross project director Jeff Meyer.

Officials said the two-story building will have a modern blood donation center, an advanced blood processing laboratory, a blood distribution facility and a warehouse for materials, management and administrative offices.

It also features 1,100 tons of steel, 2,500 cubic yards of concrete floors and seismic stability to maintain operations in the event of a major earthquake or other natural disaster.

The headquarters are expected to process some 800,000 units of blood per year and will have the ability to collect 18,000 units of whole blood and 6,000 units of platelets per year.

The new facility is also designed to help develop a self-sufficient blood supply for Southern California, according to Olmstead.

Currently, the Red Cross imports more than 40 percent of its blood supply for the region from other parts of the country. With Southern California's increasing Latino population - who have predominantly type-O blood - the demand for Latino blood donors will become a significant issue, Olmstead said.

"Blood shortages will become more pronounced if the Red Cross does not respond to Southern California's demographic trends," he said. "Building this new blood center is essential to reach the goal" of becoming self-sufficient.

American National Red Cross President and CEO Marsha Johnson Evans called Monday's unveiling, "an historic occasion."

"This is an exciting day, this is the future of the Red Cross blood system," Evans said. "The real reward of this project is the fact that we will be able to save many more lives."

Cal Poly Pomona President Bob Suzuki expressed his enthusiasm for the new partnership between the university and the Red Cross.

"We didn't just want another tenant to collect rent from," Suzuki said of Innovation Village's anchor tenant. "We were more interested in a collaboration, and the Red Cross is a prime example of that."

Suzuki said the partnership will include applied research between Cal Poly and the Red Cross, special academic programs, internship and work-study opportunities for students, joint funded research projects and community outreach programs.

The Red Cross' presence also has the long-term potential to transform the region, according to Suzuki.

"If you can get a cluster of biotech companies together, that will stimulate further interest of other companies," he said. "There is tremendous synergy that can be created."

According to Suzuki, five technology-related companies have already expressed interest in occupying space at Innovation Village.