FAQs

1. How did it happen that money from the State of South Carolina’s Plutonium Settlement Fund was allocated to fund construction of the building or the purchase of property?

The Governor of South Carolina designated $20M for the construction of a workforce development center for SRNL’s management and operations contractor, Battelle Savannah River Alliance, LLC.

2. What kind of work will be done at the building?

Space occupied by SRNL in the building will be used only for office work – no chemical work or radiological work will be done at the building. No classified work will be conducted at the location. The building is planned for mixed use, with the same access controls for the SRNL offices, as you would expect to find in any office building.

3. What locations are being looked at as possible site options?

Locations include Chesterfield Street, Newberry Street, Laurens Street and the Old County Hospital site.

4. Will local taxpayers’ dollars be used to fund this project?

The $20 million in funding provided by the state of South Caroline for the mixed-use project has been carefully analyzed. The City of Aiken is confident that the state funds secured from the settlement will be sufficient to construct the building with no direct cost to City taxpayers.

5. Will historical design be taken into consideration for downtown designs?

The City of Aiken is committed to preserving the look and feel of downtown and maintaining Aiken’s small-town charm. All building plans will go through a rigorous design review process and public participation.

6. What are the economic benefits of this project?

A recent economic impact study shows that the 100 SRNL jobs and higher incomes will increase total expenditures per person across all retail categories, equaling more than $3.3 million of new spending annually.

7. When will construction potentially start?

We are in the early design phases and a construction timeframe has not been determined. There will be opportunities for public input as the project moves through the many steps of design development and design review before a final site is approved and work on actual design and construction begins.

8. Did taxpayers fund the feasibility study?

Yes. The City of Aiken agreed to reimburse Aiken Corp for an amount not to exceed $250,000 to complete pre-development due diligence.

9. How tall would the downtown building be?

The current proposed plans include a three-story building, and will comply with all applicable building codes, guidelines, overlays and design standards for the selected site.

10. If the building costs go over the $20 million funds allocated for the project, who will pay the difference?

The project building budget includes a contingency and will not exceed the approved project budget prior to beginning design work.