Abandoned Bell Labs could make history again

When it comes to scientific research, Bell Laboratories' Holmdel campus remains one of the most famous addresses in the world.

This is where one of the most prolific technology innovators gave us cell phones, microwave ovens and the global wireless movement, arguably the most crucial communications development of the 20th century.

But these are different times.

Today, where Nobel laureates once advanced the debate over the formation of the universe, long vines stretch across the carpet in the building's atrium and a sole security guard walks around puddles of water when doing his rounds.

Bell Labs' big bang has been reduced to a stifled whimper.

Last year, a plan to demolish most of the mammoth structure and replace it with smaller office buildings and single-family homes on the 472-acre site in Monmouth County was introduced and soon abandoned under a wave of protest.

But now, Bell Labs, the once-magnificent campus considered too inflexible, too immured and too grand to save, has received a stay of execution and, if a new developer has his way, a second life.