VMASC, Tri-Cities to Get New Facilities

Old Dominion last month announced the award of a development agreement to HRC One LLC to develop two new facilities for its Tri-Cities Higher Education Center and Virginia Modeling, Analysis and Simulation Center (VMASC) along the I-664 corridor. Both centers are currently located on the Portsmouth campus of Tidewater Community College.

The Tri-Cities Center, which serves the residents of Chesapeake, Portsmouth and Suffolk, will be located in the city of Portsmouth, while the facility for VMASC, which has evolved into a major force in Hampton Roads' economic development picture, will be situated within the Suffolk city limits. The two buildings will be the centerpiece of the planned MAST Center at Hampton Roads, a 32-acre research, education and technology park.

"The university's outstanding academic offerings and cutting edge research will be in the heart of the burgeoning high tech industry emerging along I-664, which allows us to continue our successful partnerships with military, educational and industrial organizations," said President Roseann Runte.

The announcement of the new facility for VMASC follows on the heels of announced plans for Innovation Research Park@ODU. To be located in the University Village, this facility will bring together university intellectual capital, faculty and students with private sector companies to pursue research, technology development and business creation opportunities.

ODU's Tri-Cities Center is a full-service educational facility offering upper level undergraduate classes, as well as graduate classes and certificate programs. Once built, the center's new home will add even more courses and programs, including those in support of the three-city area's current and future work force initiatives.

The buildings are expected to be completed and occupancy anticipated by the start of Old Dominion's fall 2007 semester.

"We are pleased with the quality and responsiveness of all four proposals we reviewed," said Robert L. Fenning, vice president for administration and finance. "HRC One's successful bid will result in an exceptional instructional facility as well as an optimum research facility for VMASC. From a general location perspective, all of the proposals recognized the importance of being close to the U.S. Joint Forces Command's Joint War Fighting Center and to the private sectors on both sides of the river."

The $10.2 million, 50,000-square-foot, two-story Tri-Cities Center, which is being financed through a combination of general obligation bonds and developer equity, will be owned and operated by Old Dominion and maintained privately. It will accommodate the electronic classrooms and laboratories for upper-division undergraduate courses in a variety of academic disciplines, as well as selected graduate programs. Space will also be set aside for a number of TCC classrooms, selected labs and faculty offices.

VMASC is a not-for-profit collaborative center that partners with academia, industry and government in the areas of modeling, simulation and visualization research, development and education; and leveraging, promoting and cultivating simulation technology expertise through industry, government and academia. The center offers both masters and doctoral degree programs. ODU has gained recognition as a dominant academic institution in the M&S area.

The new home for VMASC will be a two-story, 60,000-square-foot facility, to be constructed at a cost of $11.6 million. The building will be financed by the developer and the university will lease the space.

ODU's Center for Advanced Engineering Environments, which is located at the Peninsula Higher Education Center, will locate additional facilities in the new building.