IMHC breaks ground on $8 million addition
- February 10, 2015
- / Joe Vinson
- / community-dashboard
Groundbreakings are generally ceremonial affairs, but Monday’s groundbreaking for the Florida Institute for Human and Machine Cognition’s $8 million expansion project was more ceremonial than most.
“You may have noticed from the giant pyramids of dirt over here that our expansion has already commenced and ground has already been broken,” noted IHMC director Ken Ford. The reason for the delay, he explained, was to coincide with the IHMC’s board meeting, so that the organization’s directors who do not live locally could be in attendance.
“Our board members are already well known leaders throughout the state and nation, and we are fortunate to have them on our team,” he said.
IHMC was founded in 1990 at the University of West Florida by Drs. Ford and Alberto Cañas as a way of creating a research hub focused on human-centered computing and artificial intelligence. It moved into the former Pensacola police station on Alcaniz Street a decade later; became an independent state research institute in 2004; and added a second campus in Ocala in 2010.
Today, IHMC employs over 100 people in the Pensacola area.
“These bright minds not only work here, but they play here, eat here, raise families here and are good citizens,” said Ford. “We understand, and it’s clear to all of us, that the success of IHMC is intertwined with the support we receive from this community.”
[caption id="attachment_16805" align="aligncenter" width="850"]
Groundbreaking of the IHMC expansion on February 9, 2015[/caption]
The three-story, 30,000-square-foot addition to the Pensacola headquarters reaffirms IHMC’s commitment to the city where it originated, but it was not without road bumps.
Expansion plans were temporarily shelved after the April 2014 storm that caused flood damage to IHMC’s main building and highlighted systemic problems with the city’s stormwater management. While many of those issues remain unaddressed, the project’s architects, Quina Grundhoefer, reengineered the building’s plans to raise the elevation.
The new building will feature an expanded robotics laboratory and sensory interface lab on the first floor, in addition to a lobby with exhibit space fronting Romana Street. The second floor will have a glass-walled observation area that will allow the public and school groups to take tours without interrupting the lab’s work.
State Representative Clay Ingram thanked Dr. Ford and the IHMC team for their important work.
“I shudder to think what the average IQ is,” he joked. “You’re changing lives all around the world for the better, and we’re so fortunate to have this going on right here.”
Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward echoed those remarks and praised the institute’s part in revitalizing downtown Pensacola.
“Ken has always been committed to a walkable, bikeable downtown, creating places where talent want to be, and that’s why all these scientists from around the world are here today,” Hayward said.
Karl Blischke with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said the expansion represented Governor Rick Scott’s priority of creating an “innovation economy” in Florida.
“The governor’s administration is focused on these target industries because they bring high-wage, high-skilled jobs to our Florida communities,” he said.
County Commissioner Grover Robinson called IHMC an example of “exactly the kind of leader we need to become” and thanked Governor Scott’s administration for its part in making the expansion happen.
“I think it’s important to see what can happen when state and local governments participate together,” Robinson said.
“You have local governments that are committed to improving and a governor who is committed to jobs in this area, so I’m excited to see the future of what Northwest Florida can be.”
The new building is scheduled to open next spring.
Groundbreaking of the IHMC expansion on February 9, 2015[/caption]
The three-story, 30,000-square-foot addition to the Pensacola headquarters reaffirms IHMC’s commitment to the city where it originated, but it was not without road bumps.
Expansion plans were temporarily shelved after the April 2014 storm that caused flood damage to IHMC’s main building and highlighted systemic problems with the city’s stormwater management. While many of those issues remain unaddressed, the project’s architects, Quina Grundhoefer, reengineered the building’s plans to raise the elevation.
The new building will feature an expanded robotics laboratory and sensory interface lab on the first floor, in addition to a lobby with exhibit space fronting Romana Street. The second floor will have a glass-walled observation area that will allow the public and school groups to take tours without interrupting the lab’s work.
State Representative Clay Ingram thanked Dr. Ford and the IHMC team for their important work.
“I shudder to think what the average IQ is,” he joked. “You’re changing lives all around the world for the better, and we’re so fortunate to have this going on right here.”
Pensacola Mayor Ashton Hayward echoed those remarks and praised the institute’s part in revitalizing downtown Pensacola.
“Ken has always been committed to a walkable, bikeable downtown, creating places where talent want to be, and that’s why all these scientists from around the world are here today,” Hayward said.
Karl Blischke with the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said the expansion represented Governor Rick Scott’s priority of creating an “innovation economy” in Florida.
“The governor’s administration is focused on these target industries because they bring high-wage, high-skilled jobs to our Florida communities,” he said.
County Commissioner Grover Robinson called IHMC an example of “exactly the kind of leader we need to become” and thanked Governor Scott’s administration for its part in making the expansion happen.
“I think it’s important to see what can happen when state and local governments participate together,” Robinson said.
“You have local governments that are committed to improving and a governor who is committed to jobs in this area, so I’m excited to see the future of what Northwest Florida can be.”
The new building is scheduled to open next spring.
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