HOLYOKE, Mass. (WGGB)–The downtown face of Holyoke is changing in large part  because of a 165-million dollar high performance computing center.

The eight and a half acre site is a construction zone. It costs 95-million dollars to build the center. Another 70-million dollars will go for computers that will be installed inside. Most of the space inside will be taken up by  computers and machines that power and cool them.

We had a chance to take a tour inside the see what’s going on.

Computers will be used to do high speed data analysis.

The center will be used for scientific research  for a number of areas including manufacturing, designing cleaner energy devices, to what they’re called hyper-accurate weather forecasting according to John Goodhue, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Green High Performance Computing Center,” Imagine being able to do a minute to minute accurate weather forecast for the next 24 hours, at an airport let’s say for safety as well as a travel convenience point of view,” says Goodhue.

Goodhue says the high performance computing center will help re-define the downtown area,”We’re transforming eight and a half acres in downtown Holyoke, so it’s  major change and when you link it up with the park across the street , Open Square down the way, and development that’s happening across the canal, I think it’s going to make a huge difference just in the physical  outlook of this part of the city,” says Goodhue.

Right now the building is weather tight. The sides are on. The roof is in place.

All the activity going forward will either be inside the building or landscaping of the site which should start coming together in a few months.

The building is expected to be completed by the end of the year, they’re hoping to have a ribbon cutting ceremony here in the Fall.