Grand Junction, Colorado – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Grand Junction Office (GJO) is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places in recognition of its important, historical roles in the Manhattan Project and the Cold War.

DOE still occupies part of the complex of buildings at 2591 Legacy Way on Orchard Mesa now owned by Riverview Technology Corporation. The listed site is a portion of the original 55.7-acre gravel mine purchased by the U.S. government in 1943 for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Manhattan Engineer District.

Grand Junction, on the Colorado Plateau of western Colorado, was selected by MED for its proximity to remote vanadium mines and their uranium-rich mill tailings, and for the small city’s available labor pool and employee housing. A Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad spur already served the site, and an abundant water supply was available from the Gunnison River.

From the Grand Junction site, the MED operated a refinery to concentrate uranium oxide, or “yellowcake.” The MED oversaw the procurement and initial processing of domestic uranium used to develop the first atomic bombs from both the refinery office and an office at Third and Main streets. America’s three-year effort to develop atomic weapons ahead of Germany during World War II was code-named the “Manhattan Project.”

“Many people may be unaware of the Grand Junction’s Office historical and scientific contributions,” said Dr. April Gil, Grand Junction Office Site Manager. “The missions of our predecessors—the Manhattan Project and the Atomic Energy Commission—required secrecy, but we are pleased to share this important history now. Uranium was key to developing nuclear technology and sparked several scientific innovations.”

Many buildings from the Manhattan Project period and Cold War era were removed from the GJO between 1946 and 2014. One key remaining building, a log cabin, was on site when the U.S. government purchased the property in 1943. It is slated to be given new life in 2018 as an interpretive center, to be open to the public in conjunction with GJO’s 75th anniversary.

In September 2001, DOE transferred 46 acres of the site to Riverview Technology Corporation, a nonprofit, business-development entity sponsored by Mesa County and the City of Grand Junction. Programs include The Business Incubator Center, a small-business support network offering training, coaching, and lease space for client companies.

“Being listed on the National Register of Historic Places is a long-overdue recognition for this unique property,” said Jon Maraschin, Executive Director of the Business Incubator Center and the Riverview Technology Corporation. “The can-do spirit that defines the achievements of the Greatest Generation of World War II lives on in the entrepreneurial spirit of the many start-up businesses operating at the site today.”

The official date for listing the GJO on the National Register of Historic Places was July 26, 2016. History Colorado, Office of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, was then notified on September 30.

Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources. This year marks an important milestone for the NHPA: its 50th anniversary. Find out more at preservation50.org.

Other Mesa County sites on the National Register of Historic Places include the Colorado National Monument Visitor Center Complex, the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Depot, and the Grand Valley Diversion Dam.

GJO’s nomination for listing on the national register was prepared by Jon Horn with Alpine Archaeological Consultants Inc., in Montrose, Colorado.

From the nomination form:

The office complex retains rare resources from the 1943–1945 Manhattan Project, which developed the world's first nuclear bomb. About 14.2 percent of the uranium used by the Manhattan Project was from ore acquired by personnel working at the office, concentrated on site, and shipped to other Manhattan Project facilities in Tonawanda, New York; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico, for further refinement, enrichment, and incorporation into test devices and the bombs detonated over Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War II. The complex is also nationally significant as a Cold-War-era facility from 1947 to 1970, when the office served as the center for uranium ore prospecting, mining, and concentration for the production of America's nuclear military arsenal and for the domestic nuclear industry.