Construction of the National Center for Atmospheric Research supercomputer data center is slated to begin next spring, Gov. Dave Freudenthal said in a letter to the Legislature's Joint Appropriations Committee July 31.

"One-hundred percent of the design work will be completed and submitted to NCAR by February 2010, with final NSF review expected to be completed by the end of March. After final approvals, construction will begin in spring of 2010," wrote the governor.

 "At this point," the he added, "65 percent of the design work has been submitted to NCAR officials, who will submit a project proposal to the National Science Foundation in August, after which, the NSF will undertake its preliminary design review."

The timeline for the project was given to Gov. Freudenthal and University of Wyoming President Tom Buchanan by Dr. Arden L. Bement Jr, director for the National Science Foundation, when they met in Washington D.C. in late July.

Of real significance, said Rob Black, spokesman for Gov. Freudenthal, is that this timeline provides a concrete outline for construction on a project that will help "diversify" Wyoming's economy in a number of ways.

"For one, we (Wyoming) have got a fairly small high-tech sector, and this will serve as a magnet for both the people working for NCAR, who will be able to employ people, but a magnet for high-tech related companies," Black said. "We also believe scholars and professors will be attracted to this facility."

The Cheyenne-based facility is being developed in partnership with the University of Wyoming, the state of Wyoming, Cheyenne LEADS, the Wyoming Business Council, and Cheyenne Light, Fuel and Power, an earlier news release from the Governor's office said.

A facility that will contain some of the world's most powerful supercomputers, will also house a premier date storage and archival facility that holds invaluable historical climate records, among other information, the release said.

Black said the total cost of the facility is around $80 million dollars, with the state of Wyoming contributing $20 million, plus an additional $11 million that will be go toward helping run the facility.

 "We talk a lot in Wyoming, and have over the years, about diversifying our economy away from the mining sector and natural resources," Black said about how the facility will help change the face of Wyoming's economy. "This is a way to do that."

 

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