(Editor’s note: The following is a speech on the city’s vision and economic development given by Oak Ridge City Council member Anne Garcia Garland to the local branch of the American Association of University Women on Monday.)

I would like to start with a couple questions of my own.

How many of you have lived in Oak Ridge for more than 20 years? How many of you have been members of American Association of University Women here for 20 or more years?

In those two decades, how many of you have noticed changes in the city that you aren’t happy with? How about changes that you are happy with? You are allowed to answer yes to both.

Coincidentally to this talk, yesterday our pastor at United Church preached a sermon on change. Change is neither good nor bad. It’s just change, and it is inevitable. And even change that looks bad can turn out to be for the long-term good when we respond to it in productive ways.

So let’s take an east-to-west look at some of the recent changes in the city’s economic picture. Elza Park is paved and the walk and bike trail now extends from Elza past the Marina basin over the hill, under Edgemoor, around Haw Ridge, and on to connect with Pellissippi at the Solway Bridge. We lost some picnic tables and gained some waterfront access on foot.

There are new automotive services at the first intersection of the Turnpike. Tractor Supply is thriving in the former east-end Food City building. R&R Properties continue their rejuvenation of office and commercial properties, and new reconstruction now at Fairbanks Plaza. Dollar General built a nice stand-alone building at Florida, and Enterprise car rental has snapped up the vacated Sonic location. Eddie Hair has expanded impressively, and there is a new Ace Hardware across the street as well as a new car sales business.

Roane State has broken ground on a multimillion-dollar expansion, and the commercial spaces in front of National Fitness are filling in.

There are new restaurants and a new bank in the Jackson Square area. The state has agreed to help fund the upgrading of the interior parking area for the square. Jackson Plaza, our one and only skyscraper, has enthusiastic new businesses, which continue to expand their employee numbers.

There are some gaps to be filled, but from Florida to the new AT&T building, there are no glaringly empty commercial sites.

Now we move on to Illinois, where things are looking very positive for a Kroger Marketplace. Provided no disasters befall the site, this Kroger installation is a bellwether (in a most intelligent form) of commerce to come. There are many national retailers who gladly follow a Kroger expansion. Kroger will be presenting designs that accommodate whatever decision this church (Unitarian Universalist Church) decides they would prefer to do. Their presence will not only bring new retail within their center, it will very likely encourage new commerce in historic Grove Center. There are even tenants already being considered for the current Kroger location.

Up Illinois, new restaurants are being built along the edge of Woodland. Weigel’s is proposing to build a new location next door to TnBank. I think we will see the Illinois corridor fill up and rejuvenate over the next two or three years in additional significant ways. There are solid citizen stores already in place and interest in more. Holiday Inn Express has joined the hotels in Oak Ridge in anticipation of a coming need.

So, let me get to some of the coming need.

There is already a list of some 400 businesses asking to qualify to be suppliers to the Department of Energy’s Uranium Processing Facility. This will be a multibillion-dollar construction project on the federal reservation. There will be many contractors joining our local ones to serve the construction needs of this Last Great Build. That, by the way, is a phrase which I attribute to John Eschenberg, the fella DOE has put in charge of the build. John took the time to come to council and describe the project. And while he was there, he urged us to jump into this build with both feet.

The Holiday Inn may have decided to build here partly because of the UPF build. I believe they are also here because they see the advent of increased commerce and travel with the opening of the final four-laning of Highway 95 between I-75 and I-40.

Let me go back a minute to the elephant in the room. For a number of years, the increasingly abandoned mall has been just that. With the construction of the Kroger marketplace, the commercial center of town CHANGES. Some of you probably remember when Jackson Square was town center. The mall and the civic center shifted “town center” to the Turnpike and Tulane. After this build, the commercial center once again shifts, this time to the western side of the civic center. Once Kroger Marketplace is open, what was The Mall will become virtually invisible. This makes me sad for JCPenney and Belk, who have been faithful to us. But it means we will no longer be waiting for Mr. Arnsdorff and Mr. Thrash, et al., to do anything. Oak Ridge is moving forward.

So far, I have been talking about commerce. Let me turn to tourism and then industry. With the opening of our four-lane connector between I-75 and I-40, we become an alternate route for folks who have already seen Knoxville. National Park or no, and I certainly hope this park will become a reality, if we partner with Clinton, Andersonville, Norris, Briceville, Oliver Springs, Kingston, and Harriman, we have enough historic places and natural treasures to become an equally attractive complement to Gatlinburg and Townsend. Oak Ridge is halfway between a LOT of places. Our entire area could be a destination as well as a stopover.

We also have within this city, commercial, office, and industrial sites ready for renovation, construction, or repurposing. DOE has been the industrial cornerstone for Oak Ridge for many years. We have some other industry for which we are grateful, and we are looking for more. We also have neighbor towns bringing industry to the area, from which we all benefit. Within probably a decade, we may well also be the center of carbon fiber industry for the nation.

As for housing, we are so fortunate to have a wealth of affordable houses, townhouses, apartments, condos, and more. We do have a few serious challenges in some of the original housing areas, but we have heard too much of the city myth that “the old housing is a problem.” Most of the old housing is no problem at all.  It includes amazing renovations and personalizations as well as modest starter homes. There is a tremendous wealth of mid-century modern homes in Oak Ridge as well as quite a few well-built ’70s and ’80s homes in neighborhoods that are now established and beautiful. There are elegant new homes in Wolf Creek and Grove Park, and there are new neighborhoods with additional modern homes in the west end. New housing starts have been near a standstill since the recession hit, but it has more to do with available lending than with any lack of plats or infrastructure. Still, Oak Ridge did not have a bubble so it hasn’t had a bust. Houses have maintained their values. As lending returns to the residential market, I think new home construction will renew with vigor.

So, about all this change. Most of us feel better about change if we believe we can influence its direction and have choices in encountering it. That’s when we get to my campaign speeches of three years ago. We need to re-engage. We need to not wait for city hall to tell us where we are going but get ourselves together and tell city hall where we prefer to go.