TSRC: Closer To Permanent Home

26 Sep TSRC: Closer To Permanent Home

Telluride Science Research Center signs agreement to lease with Town of Telluride for 17,500 square foot site

The Board of Directors of the Telluride Science Research Center (TSRC) announce today the signing of an Agreement to Lease with the Town of Telluride to bring the only independent, non-profit molecular science center in the world one step closer to realizing the goal of building a permanent facility.

The Agreement to Lease identifies approximately 17,500 square feet of land located at the northwest corner of Willow Street and Pacific Avenue in Telluride, Colorado that would be leased to the non-profit TSRC for a term of 99 years.

TSRC will soon launch a feasibility and due diligence study, followed by cost estimates for building and maintaining a permanent facility.  TSRC’sExecutive Director Nana Naisbitt anticipates that a fundraising campaign will galvanize long-standing support from the local community, as well as supporters across the state of Colorado and the country.

Today’s signing of the Agreement to Lease with the Town of Telluride caps 30 years of TSRC’s increasing influence within the molecular science academic and research communities worldwide. TSRC fosters the exchange of knowledge across international borders and institutional boundaries. Molecular science research is crucial to science and technology solutions in the fields of energy, biomedicine, materials, and environmental science.  

TSRC’s unique, small-group approach to collaborative meetings across international borders, academic disciplines, and institutional boundaries has proven to be instrumental in helping scientists develop new directions in research.

Dr. Millard Alexander, TSRC President and Chair of the TSRC Board of Directors, confirms that the organization’s Board of Directors has worked closely with Executive Director Nana Naisbitt to negotiate the agreement.

“A monumental moment for TSRC and a significant milestone in our search for a permanent facility,” explains Alexander. “Three years of enthusiastic discussions with the Town of Telluride have helped us realize an agreement that benefits all of our partners – the residents of this great region and the international research community in molecular science.”

Stu Fraser, the Mayor of the Town of Telluride, joins Alexander and Naisbitt in signing the Agreement to Lease and offers congratulations.

“The potential of a permanent facility for TSRC enhances greatly the diversity of historic, outdoor, academic, and cultural offerings for residents and visitors to Telluride. The agreement signed today will literally pave the way for this world renowned organization to continue to bring leading scientists to Telluride where they will work on scientific solutions to the benefit of the town, the State of Colorado, and the world.”

TSRC currently negotiates the use of existing school and other meeting facilities in Telluride and adjacent Mountain Village to accommodate the more than 1,500 scientists in small workshops, as well as in larger, international meetings.  The constraints of these rental arrangements limit TSRC’s ability to host meetings to nine-weeks in the summer and will not allow expected growth. With a permanent facility, TSRC will be able to accommodate approximately 3,000 scientists by 2021, based on a projected timeframe for funding and completing a new facility.

TSRC and the Telluride Tourism Board estimate the total economic impact and benefit to the Telluride region in 2014 from TSRC programs to be approximately $8 million. With completion of a new facility, by 2021 this projected economic impact should increase to about $16 million,

A permanent facility for TSRC will benefit the residents of Telluride in several ways including providing much need additional meeting facilities. It is anticipated that the facility will include an auditorium and classrooms, which could be made available on a rental basis to other organizations.

The Agreement to Lease identifies a parcel of land that includes an historic shed at the North East corner of Lot 1 of the Town Property, adjacent to Willow Street. To utilize the leased land effectively, TSRC and the Town will work together to relocate the Historic Shed to another parcel located within the Town of Telluride either already owned or subsequently secured by the Town.

In addition, TSRC will construct a new, larger, and more technologically advanced Town Community Room to replace the existing community room attached to the marshal’s office.

Announcements regarding the next steps in TSRC’s goal to build a permanent facility are forthcoming.

Telluride Science Research Center extends the frontiers of molecular science by providing an environment conducive for face-to-face discussion, collaboration, and networking among scientists and engineers from around the world. Telluride Town Talks are an annual lecture/discussion series and the public component to TSRC’s mission to convene the world’s bestmolecular scientists to set powerful new directions in research and find solutions to many of the scientific and engineering challenges of the 21^stcentury.

TSRC is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1984. Visit telluridescience.org for more information.