College sells 28 acres used for army research
By Sam Rauschenfels, The Dartmouth Staff
Published on Thursday, April 19, 2012
Correction appended
Last month, the College sold 28 acres of land lying beneath the U.S. Army Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory on Lyme Road in Hanover for $18.6 million as part of a “mutually beneficial” deal that ensures that Dartmouth’s focus is on its strategic priorities, according to Director of Media Relations Justin Anderson. The land was sold to the Army Corps of Engineers, which has operated the lab since 1961.
CRREL was originally built on land leased from the College for $1 per year, according to Thayer School of Engineering professor Mary Albert, a 30-year employee of the laboratory. Following the lease’s expiration in 2009, the U.S. Army and the College entered into negotiations to agree on a sale price, according to Anderson.
The economic downturn of 2008 “hit Dartmouth very hard” and forced the College to reconsider its lease agreement with the Army, Albert said.
The Army then decided to buy the land outright rather than continuing to lease it.
“The process was prolonged because [the sale] required a Congressional act of approval,” Anderson said. “Congress had to essentially ‘bless’ the deal.”
Congressional backing came earlier this year, and the sale was completed on March 13, Anderson said.
The Army Corps of Engineers consolidated two existing Arctic research laboratories in Illinois and Boston in 1955 and then began the search for a new location to construct a central research center, according to Albert. Former College President John Sloan Dickey ’29 lobbied for the Corps to construct the laboratory in Hanover because he believed that Dartmouth and the Corps shared a “mutual interest” in cold regions, Albert said.
Congress approved the construction of the center in 1959, and CRREL opened its doors two years later, Albert said.
During the Cold War, the government aimed to increase its knowledge and understanding of cold regions to prepare for the possibility of a Soviet attack from the Arctic region, Albert said. CRREL was tasked with understanding the unique environment and challenges of the Arctic to prepare for the possibility of fighting a war in the region, he said.
“CRREL researchers developed a whole way of engineering roads in cold regions,” Albert said. “Not just anyone could do that.”
CRREL researchers drilled the world’s first ice core, which is used to study past climates, and they engineered roads along the Alaska oil pipeline, according to Albert. The laboratory was fully funded by the Army during the Cold War.
After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Army no longer perceived an Arctic attack as a threat, and CRREL began to diversify and seek other sources of funding. In 1998, CRREL merged with other Corps research and development labs now located in Mississippi, Albert said.
Although some cold regions research continues, CRREL now focuses mostly on engineering solutions for “hot and dusty” regions such as the Middle East to aid the current objectives of the Army, according to Albert.
The College and CRREL maintain a relationship to this day, according to Albert and Anderson. Students and faculty from the College, particularly the Thayer School, have worked with researchers in the past on various projects, according to Albert.
Funds from the sale will benefit the College, but their exact use is undecided, Anderson said. The money will not fund ongoing renovations at the Hanover Inn, however.
The change in ownership of the land underneath CRREL will not affect the relationship between Dartmouth and the Corps, Albert and Anderson said.
“As the only government lab focused on snow, ice and cold issues, CRREL had a very important position in advising the government,” Albert said. “I think CRREL and Dartmouth will continue to collaborate.”
The original version of this article incorrectly stated that CRREL is in Lebanon when in fact it is in Hanover.
For crying out loud! Dartmouth sold 28 acres to focus on its “strategic priorities?” Is the Administration so bloated and incompetence that it can’t handle billing the Army and receiving money from the Army for leased land without screwing up something else in the College?
Is the College so strapped for cash that it’s better for them to sell land for a lump sum instead of making more money over the long haul via leasing it?
By Anon on Apr 19 | 8:27 am
@Anon: discounted to present value, the money made “over the long haul” may be presumed to be equal to or less than the sale price of the land.
By Anonymous on Apr 19 | 9:49 am
Dartmouth has embarked on selling real estate in order to continue funding the outrageous bureaucracy running the College. Kim stole the Class of ‘53 money for a student union and used it on the Dartmouth monopoly food club. The College also taxes the gifts given for particular purposes at 20% to give to the money to the bureaucracy.
By Anon on Apr 19 | 1:23 pm
Get your facts straight, anon commenter. Kim was not even in the picture when the Class of ‘53 money was shifted. it happened at least three years before he came along, maybe earlier. As for the 20% tax, are you referring to the need for a building given to also have maintenance? Smart move, I’d say. Of course the focus on strategic priorities piece is questionable, unless backed up with the same of a lot more stuff.
By Clueless on Apr 19 | 7:01 pm
This seems like a short term vs. long term strategy. Maybe it makes sense, depending on how the $18.6 million is spent (will it go into the endowment, which had a -20% return in 2009, or will it be spent as part of an estimated $900 million budget in FY13?) but it will be hard for Dartmouth to buy that land back if it ever wants to.
At least it won’t go towards renovating the Hanover Inn (as much as it might need to be renovated.)
By Anonymous on Apr 19 | 11:43 pm
That’s funny. Kim wasn’t even in the picture when the money was shifted? The Class of ‘53 money was shifted at least by 2006, maybe earlier? Show us some facts to back that up please. Kim announced that as part of the 2010 College Cash Crisis that the money for the '53 Commons would be used to renovate Thayer. The flattening of Thayer to build a dorm dining complex and building of the '53 Commons was on hold for 18 months prior to the Kim announcement. So who was running the College when the money was shifted? President Wright apparently. So when did President Wright announce that the money had been shifted? No I’m not referring to 20% of a gift to go to building maintenance with building money. I’m referring to the 20% tax on gifts for academic programs, there are no building maintenance costs on that and it isn’t smart, it’s College theft of directed College gifts.
By @ Clueless on Apr 20 | 1:16 am
@@Clueless. Nobody “stole” the 53 money. There wasn’t enough money for President Wright even to get started on the 53 Commons next to the McLaughlin Cluster. Would it have been better to just let the money sit and not have any building named for the class? Even though they gave the money for a building? Putting it toward renovating Thayer was the right thing to do.
And what does this have to do with the army land?
By Non-clueless on Apr 22 | 9:44 pm