Atomic Reaction
Governor, neighbors collide over latest construction plans
The Superconducting Super Collider would be a huge, 54-mile “racetrack” for subatomic particles that would be used for research into the physical makeup of the universe. It was originally scheduled to be constructed in Texas in the 1990s but never was completed due to funding issues.
“Since we are already excavating a large underground area for the entertainment addition, the Superconducting Super Collider can be added on very efficiently,” Bredesen says. There is a potential for funding from the federal government, and interest from physics departments at local universities, he adds.
Since the current underground footprint of the addition to the executive mansion will stretch south under Franklin Road to near Overton High School and north to pass under Fat Mo’s hamburger stand in Berry Hill, the giant physics facility would seem a good fit, Bredesen says.
The governor, who earned the nickname “Pharaoh Phil” for his high-profile building projects when he was Nashville’s mayor, says neither the entertainment hall nor the Superconducting Super Collider are functions of his ego. “This is a chance to become the first governor’s mansion in the country capable of not only serving a large banquet-style dinner, but also potentially detecting a Higgs boson,” he says.
The Superconducting Super Collider plan did not generate much enthusiasm when it was disclosed at a meeting of Curtiswood Lane neighbors last week.
“First they want to have a bunch of blasting to carve out a tunnel, and after that a bunch of big dinners,” groused one neighbor. “Then on top of that, a bunch of eggheads trying to understand the underlying structure of matter and the universe. I hate having that kind of thing in my backyard.”
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