The center will be an academic research facility that uses clusters of supercomputers powered by the city hydroelectric dam.
The former Mastex facility on Bigalow Street in Holyoke, along the first-level canal, are slated for demolition to make way for the high performance computing center.HOLYOKE – The Planning Board will begin reviewing the building plan for the $168 million high performance computing center at a public hearing Tuesday.
“We’re excited to get to reach this stage of the project,” said Jeffrey Brancato, associate vice president for economic development with the University of Massachusetts, a partner in the project.
The hearing is at 6:30 p.m. at Holyoke Heritage State Park Visitors’ Center on Appleton Street.
The center will be an academic researcher using clusters of supercomputers that could examine areas from climate change and the humanities to space object identification, biomedicine and engineering, officials said.
The project is being counted on as a job and revenue magnet by attracting new businesses that want to be near such a unique operation, officials said.
The center is being built here because of the available energy at the hydroelectric dam and canals owned and operated by the Holyoke Gas and Electric Department.
Originally, the plan was to use the canal water also to cool the computers, but instead another cooling method will be used, Brancato said.
The Planning Board will study a proposed site plan of 90,300 square feet set for the former Mastex Industries on Bigelow Street beside the first-level canal. The site is between Cabot and Appleton streets.
Demolition is scheduled to begin shortly on two of the Mastex buildings.
The new facility will be two stories high running along the canal, with architecture that refers to the past and future, Brancato said.
Bricks and precast concrete will be similar to the masonry on nearby mill buildings. But the building also will have more glass at the entrance, “a very contemporary style of architecture to convey a break with the past and a path to a future of new technologies and new opportunities,” he said.
“We’re looking forward to starting activities on the site and demonstrating tangible progress toward making the facility a reality,” Brancato said.
Joining UMass as partners in the project are Harvard University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Northeastern University, EMC Corp., of Hopkinton, an information storage, back-up and recovery firm, and Cisco Systems Inc., a California-based internet network equipment maker.