Federal research complex back to drawing boards

FORT COLLINS — The federal government’s long-awaited Natural Resources Research Center in the Centre for Advanced Technology might not happen there at all.

The General Services Administration, essentially the property manager for the federal government, has drastically changed its approach to constructing the research complex here. The NRRC, as the project is known, is supposed to consolidate approximately 1,000 existing U.S. Department of Agriculture and Department of Interior jobs in a campus-like atmosphere.

The 300,000-square-foot to 400,000-square-foot project has been estimated to cost $60 million to $70 million and be completed in five stages over 10 years.

While all involved maintain the project…