A goal of discovery and collaboration
Jefferson Lab takes ownership of research center; space will serve as ‘gateway’ for growing campus
The Newport News Economic Development Authority has transferred the ownership of the 122,000-square-foot Applied Research Center on Jefferson Avenue to Jefferson Lab and the U.S. Department of Energy.
City leaders gathered at the center Tuesday to commemorate the next chapter of the center, which is set to become the new gateway to Jefferson Lab and will support its campus expansion with a dedicated visitor center and science education center. Under Jefferson Lab’s management, the center will also offer expanded and modernized office space, allowing physics staff and visiting scientists a greater opportunity to foster scientific collaboration and discovery.
Stuart Henderson, director of Jefferson Lab, expressed his excitement about the new possibilities.
“It’s great because we are growing as a lab, we’re really expanding,” he said. “So to be able to have the space to expand into is really important for us as a lab. You know, we’ve added 200 positions over the last couple of years, and we’re projecting another couple of hundred here in the near term. And having the space for those people is key.”
Henderson said the new visitor center will be “absolutely fantastic” and “really open up the science we are doing” to the general public. Before the transfer, Henderson said Jefferson Lab occupied only about a floor and a half of building space at the Applied Research Center.
Newport News Mayor Phillip Jones said the facility will “change the way that we make discoveries here.” He and others described the building as a “hub” of activity.
“The city has been committed to supporting Jefferson Lab’s robust educational and scientific offerings since 1985,” Jones said. “… We have directly invested more than $64 million to ensure Jefferson Lab’s success and growth.”
Since 1998, the center has hosted growing businesses and research groups from several local universities, including William & Mary, Old Dominion University, Hampton University and Christopher Newport University. Newport News Director of Development Florence Kingston said the city’s economic development authority had built and owned the Applied Research Center, which cost $18.4 million. Virginia owned the land it was built on before the transfer to the Department of Energy, which occurred in the fall.
While various universities, Jefferson Lab and Dilon Technologies Inc. had utilized the space, Kingston said the city never fully recovered its investment into the building. She said the city contributed about $16.4 million to construct the building in the 1990s. Ultimately, she said about $10 million was never recovered, and a few years ago, the city “wrote it off ” when it decided to transfer ownership to the Department of Energy.
The Daily Press reported in 2019 that some universities chose to move out when their 20-year leases ended and that much of the building was unoccupied. Former City Manager Cynthia Rohlf told the Daily Press at the time that as the building aged, it became more expensive to operate.
Kingston said there was an understanding that the research center would better serve Jefferson Lab — and give it more visibility — than it would the city. She said the city has supported Jefferson Lab “from the beginning,” and the transfer of ownership was “a continuation of our support.” She also said in the long run, helping Jefferson Lab succeed with its expansion will also help the city by bringing high wage jobs to the area.
According to a news release from Jefferson Lab, the land transfer adds 9 acres to Jefferson Lab’s 169-acre campus. The renovations to the Applied Research Center should take place over the next four years. It will complement other efforts to expand the mission of Jefferson Lab. In October, it was announced that Jefferson Lab had been chosen to lead the Department of Energy’s high-performance data facility hub.