The story of ISABELLE, a colliding-beam accelerator conceived in 1971, officially approved in 1978, partially constructed, and terminated in 1983, is an important episode in the history of postWorld War II science in the United States. The events surrounding its planning, construction, and termination reveal much about the ambitions, strategies, and tensions of American high-energy physicists, their collaborations and rivalries, and the difficulties of funding and constructing a large scientific facility in the age of Big Science. In this article, the first of two parts, I cover the period up to the beginning of construction in 1978. I place ISABELLE in the context of the early history of colliders, outline the physics goals that motivated the machine, and describe the research and motivations behind its innovative but ultimately problematic superconducting magnet design. I cover the key technological and administrative steps that the laboratory took to get the project underway and steer it past several review committees. I also treat some of the conflicts within the laboratory, and between Brookhaven and other laboratories, especially Fermilab, that hampered the project.The story of ISABELLE, a colliding-beam accelerator conceived in 1971, officially approved in 1978, partially constructed, and terminated in 1983, is an important episode in the history of post-World War II science in the United States. The events surrounding its planning, construction, and termination reveal much about the ambitions, strategies, and tensions of American high-energy physicists, their collaborations and rivalries, and the difficulties of funding and constructing a large scientific facility in the age of Big Science. What makes the traumatic story of ISABELLE an especially good portal into the thinking and sociology of physicists of the day is that it seemed the most natural of next steps by a forefront accelerator laboratory to advance the interests of the high-energy physics community.From the moment the United States National Laboratory system was established, it was clear that the two laboratories focusing on elementary-particle physicsBrookhaven and Berkeley -had to build ever larger accelerators to stay vital. This