The State Highway Commission is hereby authorized and empowered, in its discretion, to erect and construct upon the land hereinafter described a testing laboratory, machine shops, and other necessary buildings, and to expend for such purpose an amount not to exceed Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00) out of any funds which may be available for such purpose in the state highway fund.
The State Building Commission is hereby authorized, empowered, and directed to select a suitable tract of land, ten acres in area, from any state-owned lands located in or near the City of Jackson, Mississippi, and not now being used for public purposes. The laboratory shops and other buildings specified in this section shall be erected on the land so selected, which said land is hereby set aside and allocated to the State Highway Commission for the purposes herein specified.
Miss. Code § 65-1-23