UO thinks small with big research center.

Byline: Greg Bolt The Register-Guard

The University of Oregon plans to build its next new science building in the Riverfront Research Park and make it a multi-use center combining nanotechnology research and a "high-tech extension service" to help develop new businesses from UO discoveries.

The building could be as large as 60,000 square feet and cost in the neighborhood of $18 million. It will be built on the south side of the railroad tracks that bisect the park, on a 3.75-acre site between two existing buildings.

By building in a part of the research park that's already developed, the university may avoid a clash with groups that oppose plans to eventually expand to undeveloped land north of the tracks along the Willamette River. The park's conditional use permit allows construction in that riverfront zone.

Rich Linton, the university's vice president for research, said the new building, as yet unnamed, will anchor the UO portion of the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute, a collaborative effort by the UO, Oregon State University, Portland State University and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to make the state a national player in the emerging field of nanotechnology. The initiative's acronym, ONAMI, mimics a Japanese word that means "big wave."

The Legislature has allocated $20 million for construction and $1 million for operations for the ONAMI initiative. The UO will receive $9.5 million of the construction funding and $475,000 of the operating money when bonds for the project are sold early next year.

The UO will at least have to match the state's allocation with donations and grants to get the building it wants. Linton said he hopes construction can begin soon after the state money becomes available, but he said building could be done in phases while fund-raising continues.

While the university currently has several smaller research centers in leased space in the research park, the new building will be the first time the UO has located a major research facility off campus. Linton said the departure is appropriate because the ONAMI building will be more than a university research center.

Other uses include the Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon, a "nanofabrication" center and possibly a business incubator that would provide support for new high-tech businesses.

CAMCOR is an existing university program that encourages collaboration with private industry by making the university's advanced research equipment available to tech firms working at the cutting edge of science. The nanofabrication lab is envisioned as a center that develops tools and measuring devices that will be used by businesses and institutions working on nanoscience projects.

Nanoscience involves the manipulation of materials at the atomic level, where atoms and molecules behave much differently than at the micro scale and allow new materials to be formed. Universities in the ONAMI consortium hope to be among the first to bring such new products to market.

Linton said that the decision to use the new building to forge stronger connections between UO research and private industry make the research park a natural location. He's aware that some oppose any new construction in the park - even where development already has occurred - but believes the choice is an appropriate one.

"An academic environment is one that encourages debate and discussion about issues," he said. "But I'm very hopeful this type of development will be compelling to most of our constituency. It's right in the mainstream of what the park's mission is supposed to be."

The city's business leaders have supported the research park, and Mayor Jim Torrey applauded the UO for generating a new spark in the city's economic development efforts. He said the new building will provide direct benefits and could lead to Eugene becoming a new center for corporate headquarters that are better able to withstand economic downturns.

"I want us to be a place where corporate headquarters exist, and when things get tough and companies shrink, they shrink back to Eugene," he said. "We are preparing ourself in this community and particularly in this part of the city for future economic development, and frankly we're all going to benefit from it in the future."

Torrey said the announcement was particularly timely because elections officials announced Friday that opponents of the Riverfront Research Park urban renewal district, which generates money for infrastructure improvements in the area, failed to collect enough signatures to refer the City Council's extension of the district to a city vote.

The 67-acre park, located across Franklin Boulevard from the university, is owned by the state and managed by the UO. Private developers built and own the two large buildings in the park under 99-year land leases; the university owns a smaller building, the Riverfront Innovation Center, that offers low-cost office space for new start-up companies.

The recommendation to locate the building in the research park was made by a cross section of university administrators, department heads and members of the UO research community but without broad public discussion. And because the park is not officially part of campus, the siting decision does not come under review of the Campus Planning Committee.

City officials couldn't say for certain whether hearings would be required before the university can build. But the research park already has a conditional use permit allowing construction that conforms with its approved master plan, and it is possible the project can move forward with a standard construction permit.