The cornerstone-laying ceremonies. Left to right: Brig. Gen. Duncan Hallock, Chief, Research and Development Division, Office of the Chief of Engineers, Washington, D.C.; Gov. Wesley Powell, State of New Hampshire; Brig. Gen. Alden K. Sibley, Division Engineer, New England Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; and Dr. John Sloan Dickey, President, Dartmouth College.

On 27 August 1947, R.L. Tolbert of the Engineer Research and Development Division, of the Office of the Chief of Engineers, wrote a proposal to Colonel Dean, then commanding the Division. It was entitled, "Snow Mechanics Laboratory." This was the beginning of SIPRE, the Snow, Ice and Permafrost Research Establishment. On 1 February 1961, The Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL) was established by the redesignation of SIPRE and the merger with the Arctic Construction and Frost Effects Laboratory, as directed by U.S. Army General Order No. 3. On this date CRREL was officially created.

CRREL's future involves service as a contributing member of the Corps family and its worldwide leadership role in cold regions research. Major challenges remain in the area of environmentally sustainable development of major energy reserves beneath Alaska's North Slope, reducing freeze-thaw damage to military facilities in the northern tier and Alaska, developing more effective year-round construction methods, capitalizing on current and developing remote sensing technologies to meet management and emergency response needs, and helping the nation to restore a rapidly deteriorating infrastructure. And, as always, there is a continuing challenge to improve the fighting capability of the military in the cold environment. CRREL's vision today will determine its success tomorrow.