QUESTION:
What would be the ideal location to build a ground station should we
advance that far and why?

ANSWER from Donna Shirley on April 22, 1997:
If you mean a ground station for a human mission it should be:

Near the equator to allow the maximum use of solar energy. Near a 
source of liquid water (we don't have the vaguest idea where that is).
At a low spot so that it's as warm as possible and parachutes work the
best for landing. Near some scientifically interesting site so that
astronauts have something useful to do. Some people also think it
would be good to locate a human base in a lava tube to protect it from
radiation.  If not, it would probably have to be buried.

Donna Shirley
Manager, Mars Exploration Program