Records of the Office of Research

The Records of the Office of Research consists of the official files of the Office of the Vice President for Research for the Superconducting Supercollider (SSC) proposal activity, including the full proposal of the State of Colorado. The proposal was an attempt to garner a contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to bring the SSC and related facilities to a site near Fort Morgan, Colorado. Academic institutions throughout Colorado, including Colorado State University, the University of Colorado, Colorado School of Mines, Northern Colorado University, and the University of Denver, supported the campaign, which proved ultimately unsuccessful.

The Superconducting Super Collider was a particle accelerator to be used in high-energy physics research. States were invited to submit proposals to host the SSC, and Colorado was among seven states deemed best qualified to do so. In November 1988, the DOE selected a site in Ellis County, Texas and in early 1989 development of the project began. In 1993, after nearly four billion dollars was spent, budgetary shortfalls from administration and Congressional actions necessitated stretching out the construction schedule, which had the effect of increasing the total estimated cost. Ultimately, Congress determined that the costs were too large to continue and the project was terminated.