by Don Moniak
September 10, 2023.

On Monday, September 11th, Aiken City Council will meet in closed-door Executive Session to discuss, in part: 

“The proposed purchase, sale and/or leasing of property for the Savannah River National Laboratory.” (SRNL)

Three days later, the Aiken Corporation will conduct a public “open house” on the matter of the controversial, proposed downtown SRNL office complex. The Aiken Standard reported on September 4th that:

“The Aiken Corporation announced Friday (9/1/23)  it would hold an open house (on September 14th) from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Center for African American History Art and Culture to get public input about five potential sites for the building.“

The Aiken Corporation has yet to release a project feasibility study originally scheduled for this past April, and has provided no status updates to Aiken City Council, which six months ago awarded the Aiken Corporation a no-bid, $250,000 contract to conduct pre-development work on the SRNL project. 

How seriously were five potential sites considered if Aiken City Council is meeting in closed-door session to discuss a property sale, purchase, and/or lease? How many alternatives is City Council discussing? 

Previous Aiken Chronicles stories about the SRNL project include:

Offsite Infrastructure, \which provided a history of the lab project from 2020 to January 2023.

Three Missing Pages, which detailed the $250,000 contract process.

What is the Status of the Savannah River National Lab Building Downtown, which detailed the irregular pace of project progress.

45,000 Square Feet Without a Tenant, which reported on the intricacies of the SRNL operating contract.