Telluride Science Research Center
Moves One Step Closer Toward a Permanent Facility
Signs Agreement to Lease with Town of Telluride for 17,500 square foot site
September 22, 2014 (Telluride, Colorado) - 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's
Executive 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
thirty 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.
Standing on the site of the future permanent facility for Telluride Science
Research Center. From left to right: Stu Fraser (Mayor, Town of Telluride),
Nana Naisbitt (Executive Director, Telluride Science Research Center),
Millard Alexander, (President and Chair of the Board of Directors,
Telluride Science Research Center and Distinguished University Professor,
University of Maryland). Photo credit: Brenda Collwell.
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 best
molecular scientists to set powerful new directions in research and find
solutions to many of the scientific and engineering challenges of the 21st
century.
TSRC is a registered 501(c)3 non-profit organization founded in 1984. Visit
telluridescience.org for more information.
Media Contact:
Saverio Mancina
646-684-3955 office
202-468-7644 mobile
sm@saveriomancina.com