The American Museum of Science and Energy will have a new home in Oak Ridge next year.
That's one of the results of a land transfer deal between the US Department of Energy and city of Oak Ridge, signed this week.
AMSE has been in its current building in the heart of Oak Ridge for more than 40 years. Some people have expressed concerns about the museum's location and future.
Details of its fate became clearer Friday morning.
US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz joined Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch and US Congressman Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tennessee) at a public signing ceremony, held in the Pollard Technology Conference Center on the campus of Oak Ridge Associated Universities.
Moniz and Gooch signed a land transfer deal, in which - at no cost to taxpayers, Gooch said, the DOE will give to the city of Oak Ridge the 17.12 acres on which AMSE currently sits.
This is a goal that, for some 16 years, city leaders and the DOE have not been able to reach - until now, Gooch said.
He calls it a "win-win-win" scenario. The DOE estimates the land transfer will save the department more than $2 million in long-term maintenance and operating expenses of the current AMSE site.
The third beneficiary in this deal, then, is RealtyLink, the developer transforming the old Oak Ridge Mall into a project called Main Street Oak Ridge.
Sometime next year, Oak Ridge will transfer its newly acquired 17.12 acres to RealtyLink, which will use the property for development.
"I think they have a number of ideas, a number of people that they've talked to, that may want to move into the space," Gooch said. "Certainly, there are going to be new recreation areas running around the property. That's part of the transaction."
He declined to elaborate further on RealtyLink's plans for the property where AMSE is currently located, adding only that the public will learn more next year.
In exchange for those 17.12 acres, RealtyLink will provide the DOE with 18,000 square feet of space to be used as AMSE's new location. For 15 years, per the agreement, RealtyLink will waive rent and utility costs for the space.
AMSE's future home is in a building located adjacent to JCPenny in the old mall. It used to be the Sears Roebuck and Co. building and now sits empty.
A peek through the windows reveals the space needs a lot of work before AMSE can move in. RealtyLink, Gooch said, plans on investing $1.8 million into upgrading the space.
The agreement allows the DOE to continue operating AMSE in its current space for one year. After that, AMSE will have to be in its new, nearby space.
"I think these kinds of museums of science and technology, they need revitalization, constantly," Sec. Moniz said.
Moniz's first trip as US Secretary of Energy was to Oak Ridge, in 2013. Now, this trip to the Secret City will be among his last as secretary.