A large area close to the Wharton Center has been fenced off at Michigan State University. The site is reserved for the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB), a major nuclear science research center.

"First time they've placed this kind of research facility on a college campus. We were very excited about that and we have done everything that was expected of us," said MSU Trustee Dianne Byrum.

The university is preparing the site and getting ready to break ground in May. However, that's up in the air now due to a possible reduction in federal funding. President Obama's budget proposal allocates $22 million for FRIB from the Department of Energy's budget, which is way short of the original $55 million.

"We cannot make up a 33-million-dollar shortfall in a project that's a federal research project," said Byrum.

Byrum would not say whether that means the project will be stopped, but says construction will be pushed back unless there's more funding.

'We cannot obligate the university for a 55-million-dollar project knowing that you start off $33 million in the hole."

Byrum says they will be working with the congressional delegation to make sure the project doesn't stop in its tracks, arguing that FRIB will change the lanscape of the region and help the nation to stay at the forefront of energy, security and medicine.

"It's really cutting edge technology, basic research that is going to allow Michigan and this nation to be the innovators which we all know is what's critical at the core of our economic future as a country," Byrum said.

FRIB is equally important to MSU since the multimillon-dollar facility is expected to attract the best and brightest faculty and students from around the world.