A new building at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory aims to improve the welcome experience while also enhancing site access, safety and security.
The Fermilab Welcome and Access Center, to be located near Fermilab’s main entrance on Pine Street in Batavia, Illinois, will host both informational and administrative functions for smoother processing and access to the site. In addition to the new access facility, the project also includes a new guardhouse and the reconfiguration of traffic routes for cars, bicyclists and pedestrians to provide easy and secure access to the campus. A new swipe-and-enter inbound lane will streamline badged employee entrance into the lab.
With proper identification presented to entrance guards, public visitors will continue to have access to public areas of Wilson Hall, see Fermilab’s herd of bison, explore hands-on exhibits and attend educational programs in the Lederman Science Center, and enjoy the laboratory’s publicly accessible bike paths and nature trails.
Fermilab is updating the main entrance to its campus in Batavia, Illinois. Illustration: Samantha Koch and Ryan Postel, Fermilab
Business visitors, new employees, users, affiliates, subcontractors and others visiting Fermilab for work will use the building for a smoother administrative process. The new location will enable Fermilab to efficiently welcome people and issue badges needed to enter Fermilab work areas.
“We are deeply committed to our culture of openness, and we are also deeply committed to the safety of our employees and visitors and to the security and stewardship of our world-class facilities, infrastructure, and data at the lab,” said Fermilab Director Lia Merminga. “We are pleased to continue to welcome visitors, and the Fermilab Welcome and Access Center represents a solid step towards making the lab a more welcoming place.”
Like other national laboratories, visitors to Fermilab need to present a Real ID-compliant form of identification, such as a Real-ID driver’s license or passport, to enter the site. The Fermilab website provides information on the lab’s site access requirements.
An artist’s rendering of the new Fermilab Welcome and Access Center. Illustration: Fermilab
“With the new space, we will be able to streamline the process of bringing people into the lab and take care of the access process up front,” said Greg Stephens, chief operation officer at Fermilab. “This will make for a better experience for visitors and help us improve site safety.”
A contract has been awarded to W.E. O’Neil Construction, and on-site construction has begun. Completion of the welcome and access center is expected for the fall of 2025.
Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is supported by the Office of Science of the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic research in the physical sciences in the United States and is working to address some of the most pressing challenges of our time. For more information, please visit science.energy.gov.