City of Warner Robins opens “Innolab” technology space

WARNER ROBINS — The City of Warner Robins hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, March 13, for their new “Innolab”, a space inside the North Houston Sports Complex, partnering with Ed Farm and Apple to bring a variety of technology accessible to all ages. 

“Council and I are so very excited, and we have been dreaming about what this space would look like for over a year,” Warner Robins Mayor LaRhonda Patrick said. “The time has finally come to unleash it to the rest of Middle Georgia.” 

The Innolab includes about 20 MacBook desktops, an E-Sports gaming area with two Nintendo Switches, an Xbox and a Playstation 5, virtual reality space, recording studio along with podcasting equipment, a FAB lab, an outdoor space with a firepit and much more. 

“As you all know, the council and I are very adamant on doing what we said we would do and also doing things outside of the box,” she said. “We’re huge on recreation, education, STEM education, pathways to technology and so many more things; this space exemplifies all of those areas we want to focus on.”  

Ed Farm’s Head of Learning Spaces Daniel Whitt gave Mayor and Council a tour before the city unveiled the Innolab. 

“[Whitt] said ‘when you see this space, I can dream of star observers, children starting a business and people recording albums,’” she said. “As we’re changing the brand in the city of Warner Robins, we say this, ‘If you have a dream, we can give it wings; Let’s take flight and see what this space can mean for our entire community.” 

This place is for all ages who wish to visit the North Houston Sports Complex. Patrick said this is also a space for learning for those who aren’t as tech-savvy as others. 

“It is a learning lab, that’s what our Innolab is. There’s learning activities for children as small as toddlers all the way up to our most elderly members of the community, where they’re actually taking true courses, like coding, robotics and entrepreneurial things,” she said. 

The amenities in the Innolab are free to the public, however, Patrick said there will be pieces that cost including coding clubs or camps.

“Overall, to utilize this space will not cost a thing,” she said. “This space was built on grants and that is the coolest thing that we think of when it comes to this space, because we’re huge on being good stewards of taxpayer dollars.”

Patrick pointed out they have the most advanced gear in the Innolab and will continue to follow suit as technology evolves. 

“In order to lead the space, we have to stay up to date on where technology is taking us,” she said.