Kemmerer Mayor Robert Bowen crouched in the earth between Newcastle and Lusk Thursday, examining what his group of tourists had just uncovered — evidence of a hadrosaur — the duck-billed dinosaur that roamed Wyoming millions of years ago.
"I've got a father and son out here on my lease today, and they're doing some digging," Bowen said by phone from eastern Wyoming, where he leads dinosaur excavation tours through his company Dig Wyoming Dinosaurs. "They just found a nice big hadrosaur foot claw, and they found some teeth."
While Bowen pursues his paleontological passion in eastern Wyoming, back home in Kemmerer — aka Fossil Town USA — this community near Fossil Butte National Monument projects a prehistoric vibe but is faced with a unique constellation of modern challenges.
This week brought major developments for TerraPower's Natrium plant project, the first commercial-scale advanced nuclear reactor in the United States and the only non-light water reactor being built in the western hemisphere.
TerraPower announced it raised $650 million from investors including Nvidia, SK Inc. and Gates Frontier Partners, bringing total funding to more than $1 billion. Also this week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission opened its draft environmental impact statement for public comment, marking another regulatory milestone.
The financial and regulatory gears are turning — with construction progressing on schedule at the nuclear facility itself. Now, Bowen and others hope home construction ramps up and new buyers come to town.
The Gateway and Canyon Road Developers offer Kemmerer ambitious visions of the future, but unlike TerraPower’s nuclear power plant — which broke ground last year — not much dirt is moving when it comes to local housing. But that could change this summer. (TerraPower) 
Chase Blanchard working on a large Edmontosaurus foot bone he and his father Ted discovered, with guidance from Kemmerer Mayor Robert Bowen at a site in eastern Wyoming. (Courtesy Robert Bowen) 
The Gateway and Canyon Road Developers offer Kemmerer ambitious visions of the future, but unlike TerraPower’s nuclear power plant — which broke ground last year — not much dirt is moving when it comes to local housing. But that could change this summer. (Gateway Developers)
Time Is Now
Bowen thinks Kemmerer's current housing stock meets today's needs but warned that won't last long.
"So far, because they're not bringing the big, big numbers of people yet, our housing right now is able to cover what's in town," Bowen said. "But when the other industries kick off is when we're going to need to push forward a lot more strongly on getting housing done."
Kemmerer is working with a pair of developers — Gateway Construction and Canyon Road — to realize ambitious plans illustrated in graphic plans and renderings. The city has approved 147 single-family units in the Gateway subdivision, and developers hoped to begin construction this spring, but Bowen said it's been pushed back.
Bowen emphasized the city's commitment to expediting development, even if it means calling special meetings.
"My administration, the new council, we've been pushing things very hard," he said. "I've called multiple special meetings. The zoning board is willing to call special meetings. We're all willing to bend over backwards for these guys to get these projects done."
In the attractive graphic renderings of the project, Gateway and Canyon Road offer a futuristic glimpse of Fossil Town. They are looking to develop in two areas, bringing in what promotional materials describe as "thoughtful, sustainable growth" with residential and commercial properties, including a new truck stop.
"We even passed a resolution saying that we support public private partnerships, that we want to see growth in our population and economy," Bowen added. "And we gave that to developers so that they can take it to financial institutions saying all of this community is behind you, that we are backing this 100%."
Timeline Pushed Back
While developers had initially hoped to be ready to receive pre-built single-family homes from Fading West by July 2025, the timeline has been pushed back. Still, Cheyenne-based Gateway Construction is making progress.
"Phase one A consists of 54 lots, and currently we're planning on a summer slash fall start on the site work and infrastructure, with delivery, you know, having the house ready to be purchased and lived in 2026," said Jason Stephen, owner of Gateway Construction.
"We have to put all the utilities there. So we got water and gas and electric and sewer and then you know, bringing the roads, curb, gutter, sidewalk, all that stuff needs to be put in," Stephen explained.
Eric Schaefer, who serves as the chief business development officer at Fading West Development, said the Gateway project — located to the west of downtown along Canyon Road — sits on 116 acres and will have 179 single-family homes.
"The hope would be we'd do the majority of them if not all of them," Schaefer said of Fading West's involvement. Fading West builds modular homes in its Colorado factory and then ships them to lots with foundations ready to receive them.
He cited "The Farm" project in Buena Vista, Colorado, as an example of their recent work similar to what's happening in Kemmerer. Schaefer said the Gateway project in Kemmerer will likely include one story, single family homes like the Elk Ranch and Lincoln models shown on its website.
"The cool part about it, it takes us about 7 to 8 days to build a house in the factory," Schaefer explained. "Which is quite remarkable. So again, the speed to market is the piece on this as well as, really well-designed, good-looking houses that are built to code."
(Jimmy Emmerson via Flickr) 
Kemmerer, Wyoming: Fossil Town USA. (David Madison, Cowboy State Daily)
Shuttle Service
Even with new development at the Gateway subdivision and other projects on the horizon, Mayor Bowen recognizes Kemmerer's limitations. That’s why he expects to see Evanston become a bedroom community for those moving in to take jobs created by the new TerraPower plant.
"We understand Kemmerer can't accommodate the entire capacity workforce," Bowen said, who would like to see shuttle service established between Evanston and Kemmerer. "I heard rumors about that, but nothing official from anybody with TerraPower or Bechtel or any of those."
For those who do want to live in Kemmerer, Bowen hopes there are lots of new places to choose from.
"We do need to get moving this year as best we can," Bowen said. "Because if we don't, workers are going to be forced to live in other communities, which will be of no benefit to us because they're going to just buy their gas and groceries in other communities. And we're not capturing any of those tax dollars."
Buyers Market
Brian Muir, Kemmerer's city administrator, provided specifics on the major developments that have cleared regulatory hurdles but haven't broken ground.
"The Gateway PUD Phase One A is a subdivision that has been approved as far as the plat. We have a development agreement and we're awaiting a construction application," Muir said.
Beyond the large developments, Muir said existing local homeowners see promise in fixing up their properties and trying to fetch the highest market price.
"There are a lot of people right now investing in their properties and trying to sell them. There's a lot of houses on the market because I think people are seeing an opportunity," he said.
Heidi Despain, broker and owner at Quality Realty in Kemmerer, said this is partly why it's a buyer's market.
"This is the third year that it is so slow," Despain said. "It is an absolute buyer's market where we have way more homes than buyers. Typically, summertime in Kemmerer, summertime is typically crazy. We're getting a lot of listings. Just not a lot of buyers."
Despain said she's yet to see a large wave of permanent TerraPower employees move into the area.
"We've moved over a couple engineers and security, that kind of stuff. So we've seen a couple permanent employees, but not the huge rush that we're going to see," she explained.
She confirmed that TerraPower announcements do impact real estate activity, recalling the initial surge of interest.
"When they announced the nuclear plant, we saw a huge jump in investors wanting to come to the area, purchasing rental property, fixer uppers, homes to flip," Despain said. "So that was really cool. You know, we've never had that before."
As for the seemingly slow times now, Despain reads the headlines and wonders what they mean for the future of real estate in the nation's one and only nuclear plant boom town.
"People are nervous about what's going on in the world," said Despain. "We've got all this Iran-Israel stuff going on. So, I think there's a lot of unrest still."
"I'm not sure if I need to panic or just wait," Despain added. "I think next year is going to be very telling."
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
