NARRAGANSETT — The late Sen. Claiborne Pell, state Rep. Eileen S. Naughton and the taxpayers of Rhode Island were singled out for repeated thank-yous Monday morning as the state’s political leaders joined scientists, Navy officers and hundreds of others in opening the new Ocean Science and Exploration Center at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography.

The three-story building, on the university’s Bay Campus, is home to the relocated Pell Marine Science Library and the school’s Sea Grant library.

It provides space for administrators of the oceanography school. And it houses a television studio, editing space and control room for explorer Robert Ballard’s Center for Ocean Exploration, which several speakers predicted would revolutionize ocean science by transmitting images from ocean floors to classrooms across America.

“We are not just opening a building and celebrating completion of construction,” said Sen. Jack Reed. “We are marking the beginning of a new phase of scientific discovery. This facility will provide extraordinary opportunities for scientific endeavor.”

Reed and others said the taxpayers of Rhode Island should be proud because they approved the $14-million bond issue in 2004 that paid for most of the building.

Several speakers praised Naughton, D-Warwick, a consistent backer of coastal issues, for working with then-House staffer Sandra Whitehouse to get the bond issue on the ballot.

And many pointed to the efforts of the late Senator Pell to support ocean topics such as oceanography, Law of the Sea and protection of marine resources.

URI Vice President Robert A. Weygand noted that Pell, on May 2, 1965 — during his first Senate term — held a hearing at URI on creating the Sea Grant program.

URI became one of the first Sea Grant institutions, and the program has generated millions of dollars for ocean science research.

The Pell family was represented by the late senator’s wife, Nuala; son, Toby, and grandson, Clay.

Also in attendance was the first dean of the graduate school, John Knauss; top officials from the Navy and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and a representative of National Geographic, which plans to use Ballard’s studio for a national television special this fall.

Governor Carcieri called it a great day for the university and for the state.

“We are building this into a world-class university, building on its strengths,” Carcieri said.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse said the building should be viewed as a porthole, providing views of the “deepest depths of the seven seas.”

Ballard thanked Naughton and fellow scientists who helped him bring a dream of 28 years to reality — the dream of broadcasting ocean research to scientists and schoolchildren across the country.

Rick Spinrad, assistant NOAA administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research, said Ballard’s dream is happening at URI –— “Vessels will transmit images to Narragansett, Nagasaki and Nairobi.”

David Farmer, dean of the School of Oceanography, challenged his staff to use the new building to roll back ignorance. He said the ocean is a reservoir of ignorance “about the extraordinary complexity and diversity of ocean life, ignorance about ocean circulation and its interaction with the atmosphere and sea floor, and ignorance about our place in its evolving history.”

Farmer reminded his audience that the people of Rhode Island paid for the building. “They put their trust in us, and we have an obligation to them to make this a world-class venture in ocean science and exploration, for the education and inspiration of this and future generations.”

plord@projo.com