Oak Ridge Today

Alexander Inn on endangered places list again

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Alexander Inn

The Alexander Inn in Oak Ridge has again been named an endangered place in East Tennessee.

The Alexander Inn in Oak Ridge has again been named an endangered place in East Tennessee.

The vacant, two-story hotel was included on a list of 17 endangered places released by the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance on Monday. The Alexander Inn, which could soon be converted into an assisted living center, has been on the list in previous years as well.

Announced Monday in Knoxville, the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance’s list includes endangered historic buildings and places in a 16-county region.

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Guest column: Electronic signs a reality, responsible use should be allowed

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Note: This is a copy of a Jan. 28 letter from the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce that was received by the Municipal Planning Commission during a recent public hearing on electronic signs.

On Aug. 23, 2012, the City’s Community Development Director sent a letter to the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce requesting Development Forum help in clarifying and updating the city’s electronic reader board (moving copy) sign regulations. The Forum first discussed this issue with Community Development staff on Sept. 6 and provided broad feedback associated with issues such as light intensity and the need to incorporate new sign technologies into the city’s regulations. The Chamber remained in contact with city staff, but proposed language was not provided until December.

Since then, the Development Forum and representatives of the Oak Ridge Business Coalition have collaborated in discussions associated with proposed revisions to the city sign ordinance pertaining to reader board signs (moving copy signs). It is our shared opinion that:

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Applewood Apartments could be demolished, replaced by new complex

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Note: This story was last updated at 5:38 p.m. March 6.

Eight of the 10 Applewood Apartments buildings could be demolished, and a new apartment complex could replace them under a plan proposed by an Alabama company.

The project, proposed by Huff Management Company of Opelika, Ala., is a “strong candidate” for a potential tax credit, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark S. Watson said. He said Huff Management has a contract with the present owner, Knoxville attorney Joe Levitt.

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Unitarian Universalists buy land near Federal Building for new church

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Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church Site

Members of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church have purchased this 4.6-acre site in front of the Joe L. Evins Federal Building on Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Photo courtesy of Jake B. Morrill)

The members of a heavily used church on busy Oak Ridge Turnpike have found a new home, part of a neighborhood exodus to make way for a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center in the heart of the city.

Members of the Oak Unitarian Universalist Church had agreed in September to sell their current building and 3.6 acres at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Robertsville Road in a deal arranged by commercial developers Blanchard and Calhoun Commercial.

On Wednesday, roughly five months later, congregation members announced they had purchased a 4.6-acre parcel at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Laboratory Road, in front of the Joe L. Evins Federal Building.

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City asked to strike balance between businesses, community over electronic signs

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Misty Robbins at Electronic Signs Public Hearing

Misty Robbins, right, of Snappy Tomato Pizza, said the restaurant could buy an electronic sign but wants to see what new regulations might be issued to govern them.

Business owners call them effective, a great way to get out their messages.

But a few residents call them distracting and offensive, at least in some cases.

Caught in the middle are Oak Ridge officials. They are trying to write new regulations for the electronic signs, considering how to govern brightness, display times, and transitions between messages.

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Veterans Business Association honors ORNL small business programs

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Keith Joy

Keith Joy

The Tennessee Veterans Business Association awarded the 2013 “Veterans Work” Award to Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Keith Joy, ORNL Small Business Programs director.

The award was presented during a recent banquet at the Knoxville Convention Center.

The annual award honors a company that works with and hires veterans. ORNL works to consistently meet or exceed its small business goals for veteran-owned small businesses, as well as those in all socioeconomic categories, a press release said.

North Carolina company signs purchase contract on Oak Ridge Mall

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Oak Ridge Mall

An aerial view of the Oak Ridge Mall, which has been renamed the Oak Ridge City Center and is pictured at center in the photo above.

A North Carolina company has signed a contract to purchase the Oak Ridge Mall.

Crosland Southeast, a development and investment company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., signed a contract in late January to buy the mostly empty mall from Oak Ridge City Center LLC, according to a Wednesday morning press release from the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

“We feel the Oak Ridge market is under-served in terms of retail and feel very positive about the retailers we believe we can bring to this new center,” Crosland Southeast partner Tim Sittema said in a Wednesday morning press release from the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

A sale price for the roughly 60-acre site in the heart of Oak Ridge has not yet been disclosed, but it would become public after the deal closes.

“In my book, this is one of the most exciting days I’ve had here in a decade at the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce,” said Parker Hardy, president of the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce. “This is a big deal.”

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Following business backlash, city schedules public hearing on signs

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Changes to the city’s electronic sign ordinance that were proposed late last year were publicly opposed by several business owners, and they ended up being pulled from a December meeting of the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission.

Now, the city has scheduled a public hearing on the existing sign regulations, which were adopted in 2003, a city press release said.

The changes proposed last year would have governed message display times and brightness of electronic signs. They would have required that electronic sign messages be static and shown for at least 10 seconds, and they would have set a maximum light intensity for the signs. The city staff said drivers and residents have complained about the electronic reader board signs.

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Primetime networking event
 at Chamber of Commerce set for April 18

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Parker Hardy at Primetime

Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce President Parker Hardy cooks hot dogs at a Primetime business-to-business exposition in October 2011.

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce will have its spring Primetime networking event on April 18.

Held twice a year, Primetime is the Chamber’s top networking event of the year, a press release said. It allows Chamber members to meet and talk to each other and also allows members of the public to come by and see what area businesses have to offer.

This spring’s Primetime event is titled “Under the Big Top,” and it will have a circus theme, the press release said.

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Few months after fire, Magic Wok passes city inspections, needs one from county

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Oak Ridge Fire Department at Magic Wok

Damaged by smoke in November, the Magic Wok restaurant, which has been closed for several months, has passed all city inspections but still needs one from the county.

Several months after it was damaged by smoke, the Magic Wok restaurant has passed all city inspections, and the diner now needs an inspection from the Anderson County Health Department, Oak Ridge Assistant Fire Chief Josh Waldo said Thursday.

The landmark Oak Ridge diner on Tyler Road passed a fire inspection Thursday morning, Waldo said.

The Magic Wok has been closed since  it was damaged by smoke in November after food was left cooking on a stove unattended. Firefighters didn’t see any flames that night, but they found smoke and high temperatures.

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Ferri retires, UCOR organization changing

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Mark Ferri

Mark Ferri

Jeff Bradford

Jeff Bradford

Mark Ferri, who has led the safe, successful deactivation and demolition work at K-25 since UCOR arrived in Oak Ridge in August 2011, has announced that he will retire from the company at the end of February and will accept a CH2M Hill corporate opportunity in the United Kingdom.

Ferri was part of UCOR’s original, handpicked leadership team. His selection proved a wise one, as progress under his leadership has been stellar. Workers have demolished more than two million square feet of the old gaseous diffusion facility, and more than 15,000 loads of waste have been shipped under the “pack as you go” philosophy that he and his counterpart, Waste Management Manager Jeff Bradford, installed as part of the UCOR way of doing business.

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Anderson Emergency Planning Committee meets Tuesday

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The Anderson County Local Emergency Planning Committee will hold its annual membership meeting on Tuesday at Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge.

There will be a presentation by Radiation Emergency Assistance Center/Training Site (REAC/TS). All Anderson County and Oak Ridge area companies who handle hazardous and radioactive materials or wastes are invited to send a representative, a press release said.

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