Sanford Lab, Chamber break ground for new Visitor Center

In a public event held at the Open Cut in Lead, the Sanford Underground Research Facility and the Lead Chamber of Commerce held a groundbreaking ceremony for the new Sanford Lab Homestake Visitor Center.

“Today represents the culmination of planning and facility design discussions that started in 2012,” said Mike Headley, executive director of the South Dakota Science & Technology Authority (SDSTA). “We are thrilled to have reached this milestone, excited to start construction, and eager to realize the potential of this new facility.”

Headley thanked several dignitaries in the crowd of nearly 70 people. He also recognized T. Denny Sanford and Gov. Dennis Daugaard, thanking them both for their ongoing support of Sanford Lab.

Jerry Apa, Mayor of Lead, echoed Headley’s comments. “There is no doubt in my mind that the $70 million from T. Denny Sanford resulted in the selection of Homestake mine as a science facility.”

Apa also thanked Sanford Lab for it’s strong commitment to Lead and talked about the sense of hope the lab has brought to the community since Homestake’s closure.  “For 126 years, we mined for gold,” said Apa. “Over the next 126 years, we’ll mine for science and knowledge—not only for the benefit of the science community, but the for the benefit of the world.”

The new Visitor Center will play a key role in Sanford Lab’s education and outreach efforts, said Ron Wheeler, Sanford Lab’s Director of Governmental and External Affairs. “We see this as a public portal—another way for visitors and the community to learn about the science and engineering taking place at Sanford Lab.”

The new 8,000-square-foot Visitor Center will include offices for the Lead Chamber of Commerce, retail space and a classroom. A 3,000 square-foot exhibit area will be dedicated to telling the story of Lead, including the discovery of gold, the ethnic groups who came to work for Homestake, and the transformation of the Homestake Gold Mine into an advanced-underground-science research facility. The new building will built on the site of the current Visitor Center.

Demolition of the existing building is set to begin next week.