Frank H. Rogers Science and Technology Building
Shines brightly on star-studded opening night

DRI Research Foundation Chair David Fulstone II, left, and NNSA Administrator Ambassador Linton Brooks exchange greetings at the Rogers Building grand opening.

“See our new star…” was the theme, and it was a star-studded event from start to finish. Nearly an hour before the 5:30 p.m. grand opening and dedication on Oct. 3, the lobby of DRI’s Frank H. Rogers Science and Technology Building was packed with several hundred dignitaries, elected officials, trustees, board members, faculty, staff, family, friends and well-wishers.

After welcoming remarks by DRI President Dr. Stephen G. Wells and Nevada Test Site Historical Foundation President Troy Wade, Nevada Gov. Kenny C. Guinn congratulated DRI, NTSHF, the National Nuclear Security Administration and Bechtel Nevada on completion of the building and on the unique and historic partnership that made it possible.

NNSA Administrator Ambassador Linton Brooks lauded test site workers for their important role in winning the Cold War, and keynote speaker Gen. John A. Gordon, presidential advisor on homeland security, said DRI’s leadership in environmental research stems in part from its long history of monitoring test site program air and water quality.

University and Community College System of Nevada Board of Regents Chair Dr. Stavros Anthony spoke about DRI’s world-class science and collaborative efforts that made the Rogers Building possible. In a videotaped statement, Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., applauded DRI’s work and said he hoped people entering the new building would learn about what a great man Frank H. Rogers was.

During the ceremonies, Wells characterized the building as a five-pointed guide star that could lead the nation on a journey toward national security balanced with environmental sustainability. Wade said the Rogers Building concept is based on the same alliance of academia, government and industry that helped defeat the Soviet Union.

Gov. Kenny C. Guinn, left, congratulates DRI at the Rogers Building grand opening ceremonies as DRI President Dr. Stephen G. Wells looks on.

Wells dedicated the NNSA Nuclear Testing Archive Public Reading Room in the name of Nevada State Senator and UNLV Political Science Professor Dina Titus, a noted scholar and critic of U.S. nuclear weapons policy. He also announced the naming of the Innovators Gallery in the Atomic Testing Museum for Alfred O’Donnell, longtime “triggerman” at the test site. Linda Smith, NTSHF treasurer, made a surprise announcement that the Ground Zero Theatre will be named in honor of Wade.

The Rogers Building’s 66,000-square-feet of space more than doubles the office, laboratory and multiple-use space at the institute’s Southern Nevada Science Center at Flamingo and Swenson streets and houses the Atomic Testing Museum.
Named in honor of the late Frank H. Rogers—former administrative chief operating officer for Reynolds Electrical and Engineering Co., (see story on page 2) the primary contractor at the NTS in the 1950s—the building allows the institute’s southern Nevada campus to continue its rapid growth. In addition it holds the Frank H. Rogers Center for Environmental Remediation and Monitoring, which is dedicated to environmental contaminant detection and clean up and headed by Executive Director Dr. David Shafer.

NNSA’s Nuclear Testing Archive is on the building’s second floor. This archive contains more than 370,000 documents and records compiled by the U.S. Dept. of Energy and NNSA during more than 50 years of nuclear weapons testing. Currently operated by Bechtel Nevada, the archive offers visitors the opportunity to view a variety of unclassified and previously classified documents via the Dina Titus Public Reading Room.

NTSHF Treasurer Linda Smith, left, congratulates State Sen. Dina Titus on the naming in her honor of the public reading room in the Rogers Building.

NNSA’s Cultural Resources Program—managed by DRI’s Division of Earth and Ecosystem Sciences under Executive Director Dr. Michael Auerbach—shares the second floor and contains more than 500,000 archaeological artifacts.
Rogers’ son, James E. Rogers, donated $3 million toward the construction of the building and endowment of the Rogers environmental center to honor his father’s accomplishments.

One of the nation’s leading philanthropists, Rogers is owner and CEO of Sunbelt Communications Co., which operates KVBC Channel 3 in Las Vegas and several other network affiliates in the West.

Rogers said although the building is named for his father, it represents all the patriotic and heroic men and women of the test site.

When it opens in late 2004, the 8,000 square-foot Atomic Testing Museum will feature exhibits depicting the Cold War role of the NTS and placing it in context within the current affairs of the period.

Reporter Gerald Ramalho, of NBC-TV affiliate KVBC in Las Vegas, interviews DRI President Dr. Stephen G. Wells in the Changing Exhibit Gallery of the Atomic Testing Museum following grand opening and dedication ceremonies.

Some 2,000 square feet of museum space is currently dedicated to the Francis Gary Powers U-2 exhibit, related Cold War artifacts and DRI science displays. In the future, the space will feature traveling exhibits such as those from the Smithsonian Institution, with which the museum is affiliated.

DRI’s Center for Arid Lands Environmental Management, or CALEM, is also in the Rogers Building. The center assists the U.S. military and other land managers with science- and engineering-based desert ecosystem management, sustainable development, stewardship, adaptive management and restoration ecology.

At the evening’s end, widespread agreement was heard that the five-pointed star—Rogers environmental center, CALEM, Nuclear Testing Archive, Cultural Resources Program and Atomic Testing Museum—has an extremely bright future.

— Ron Kalb