Oak Ridge Today

Photos: Main Street Oak Ridge construction

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Construction work continues for new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall. This work on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, is in the area that will house Dick's Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx, roughly in the area of the former Sears department store. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Construction work continues for new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall. This work on Friday, Feb. 10, 2017, is in the area that will house Dick’s Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx, roughly in the area of the former Sears department store between Walmart and the U.S. Post Office. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Construction work continues for eight new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall.

Here are photos from the 58-acre project on Friday, February 10.

With the exception of Belk and JCPenney, the former mall has been demolished, and there has been significant progress on the sites where the new stores are being built.

RealtyLink, the development company, has previously said the eight new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge could be ready by late spring or summer. [Read more…]

Countryside Tire and Auto gives car to Emory Valley Center at ribbon-cutting

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Business owners; city, county, and chamber of commerce officials; and others attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Countryside Tire and Auto Service on South Rutgers Avenue on Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Countryside Tire and Auto Service gave a car to Emory Valley Center during a ribbon-cutting ceremony at its new shop on South Rutgers Avenue on Friday.

The car is a brown-and-black 2004 Chrysler PT Cruiser. The gift includes 12 months of repair and maintenance.

Goodyear Tires donated tires for the vehicle, and Advance Auto Parts donated parts, said Jeff Cheek, who owns Countryside Tire and Auto Service with his wife Marilyn.

Chris Levesque, who has worked at Countryside Tire and Auto Service for about three years, is an Emory Valley Center client. [Read more…]

Food City expands

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Mickey Blazer, left, executive vice president of operations for K-VA-T Food Stores Inc. in Knoxville and Chattanooga, is pictured above with store manager Joe Fahy, center, and Joe Greene, district manager, at the expanded Food City grocery store in Oak Ridge on Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Food City in Oak Ridge has expanded. It’s now one of the larger stores of its type.

Food City and Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce officials celebrated last week with ribbon-cutting and flag retirement ceremonies.

Among the new, expanded, or renovated sections are a bakery, deli, and cafe; a specialty cheese section and salad bar; a wellness center, pharmacy, and natural section; a wine section and growler station for beer on tap to go; and drive-through pharmacy and Gas ‘N Go.

During the 10-month expansion project, the Food City store added 11,200 square feet using vacant space formerly occupied by H&R Block and Sally Beauty Supply, Food City officials said. [Read more…]

With transfer agreement signed, plans call for developing AMSE site, relocating museum, demolishing building

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The American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 3.

With a property transfer agreement signed, new businesses could be built on the 17 acres that now house the American Museum of Science and Energy, the museum will be relocated, and the AMSE building could be demolished, officials and a business executive said Friday.

The changes are allowed under an agreement approved by federal officials, unanimously approved by the Oak Ridge City Council in December, and signed by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch in a Friday morning ceremony at Oak Ridge Associated Universities.

The U.S. Department of Energy said the transfer of the museum property, owned by the federal government, will allow the City of Oak Ridge to “explore future innovative development and economic stimulus opportunities.”

“From the Manhattan Project of World War II to the cutting-edge materials research of today, Oak Ridge has long played a vital role in American science and security,” Moniz said. “This agreement will ensure that Oak Ridge’s history is preserved and shared while providing the city a new opportunity to create jobs and strengthen the local economy.”

When the transfer is completed, DOE public outreach and education missions that are now conducted at AMSE and focused on Oak Ridge history, science, and national security will continue in renovated space in a two-story building that once housed a Sears store next to JCPenney at the former Oak Ridge Mall. The former mall is being redeveloped as Main Street Oak Ridge.

DOE said the AMSE property transfer will save more than $2 million in deferred maintenance costs at the museum and greatly reduce operating expenses. [Read more…]

Construction starts on Dick’s Sporting Goods, T.J. Maxx

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Construction of Dick’s Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx is under way at Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge mall. Both stores, which will be in the area of the former Sears department store near Walmart, are expected to open in the spring or summer of 2017. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

 

Construction has started on Dick’s Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx at Main Street Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge officials said Wednesday. The city has posted photos and videos of the construction, which is near Walmart in the area of the former Sears department store at the former Oak Ridge Mall.

Main Street Oak Ridge is the redevelopment of the 58-acre former mall site. With the exception of Belk and JCPenney, the enclosed mall space has been demolished.

Eight new stores are expected to be ready at Main Street Oak Ridge by late spring or summer, a development executive said in November. [Read more…]

Knoxville company building $12 million plant in Hardin Valley

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Pictured above is Peter Hedger, chief executive officer of Magnum Venus Products, which is building a $12 million plant in Hardin Valley. (Submitted photo)

 

A Knoxville manufacturing company announced Thursday that it will build a $12 million plant in Hardin Valley that will create about 70 new jobs during the next five years.

The new Magnum Venus Products, or MVP, plant will be in the Hardin Business Park off Hardin Valley Road in west Knox County. Among other things, MVP makes high-tech pumps and works in the composites industry.

Construction of the new 80,000-square-foot plant will occur in two phases. The first 40,000-square-foot expansion phase will be completed next year, a press release said. The second phase of the expansion will add another 40,000 square feet.

Magnum Venus Products plans to occupy the new facility in the second half of 2017. [Read more…]

New parking lot paved, new sign up at Belk as work proceeds quickly at Main Street

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Work continued on the new Belk entrance and parking lot on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016. The goal has been to complete that portion of the work at Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall, by Thanksgiving. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The new sign is up and the new parking lot paved at Belk as work proceeds quickly at Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall.

With the exception of Belk and JCPenney, the mall has been demolished, and there has significant progress on the sites where new stores will be built.

First, on Saturday, concrete stands in the parking lot in front of Belk were almost finished, and some lighting poles and fixtures were installed, said Ray Evans, retail consultant for the City of Oak Ridge. The goal has been to finish the new Belk entrance and its new parking lot by Thanksgiving.

Second, there was work on piping for interior utilities where Electronic Express and PetSmart will be located between JCPenney and Walmart on South Rutgers Avenue.

Third, the pad had been completed and a stone base put down where Dick’s Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx will be built between Walmart and the U.S. Post Office on South Tulane Avenue, in the area of the former Sears department store. [Read more…]

New stores at Main Street Oak Ridge could be complete by late spring, summer

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Eight new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge could be ready by late spring or summer, a development executive said Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016. This photo was taken from near Belk and the former Sears store, looking toward JCPenney. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

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Rex Rice, RealtyLink project manager (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Eight new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge could be ready by late spring or summer, a development executive said Tuesday.

Rex Rice, project manager for RealtyLink, the development company, said the Dick’s Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx stores should be ready for those retailers by late spring or summer, and six other stores—Electronic Express, Maurice’s, PetSmart, Rack Room Shoes, Rue 21, and Ulta—should be ready by summer.

Rice gave a brief project update during a Tuesday morning Rise and Shine event sponsored by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce at TNBank.

As expected, the demolition of the former Oak Ridge Mall was complete in about three months. Only Belk and JCPenney remain, and both are open.

“We tore down everything between them,” Rice said. That included the former Goody’s Family Clothing and Sears department stores.

Demolition cost about $1 million, Rice said. [Read more…]

Main Street Oak Ridge: New main entrance being built at Belk

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A new main entrance is being built at the Belk department store in Oak Ridge as part of Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project the redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall, which has now been demolished. The Belk entrance work is pictured above on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A new main entrance is being built at the Belk department store as part of Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall, which has now been demolished.

The new main entrance will face Rutgers Avenue, toward where the mall’s enclosed space used to be.

Belk is also getting a facelift and other work. It includes roof work; exterior painting; and work on the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning system.

Four stores will be built on the south side of Belk as part of Main Street Oak Ridge. The four stores are Maurice’s, Rack Room Shoes, Rue 21, and Ulta. [Read more…]

Ruby Tuesday demolished for Panda Express, retail shops

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Demolition work continued on the former Ruby Tuesday restaurant on South Illinois Avenue on Friday, Oct. 14, 2016, to make way for a Panda Express and retail space. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The former Ruby Tuesday restaurant has been demolished to make way for a Panda Express and retail shops on South Illinois Avenue.

A site plan for the Panda Express restaurant and retail development has been reviewed by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission.

Panda Express will be on the one-third of the subdivided Ruby Tuesday property that is closest to the Subway on South Illinois Avenue, said Ray Evans, the city’s retail consultant. The developer is Rudd Seeley Wallis LLC. That’s the Nashville company that developed the shopping center on South Illinois Avenue that includes Chipotle, Aspen Dental, and Pie Five Pizza,

The other two-thirds of the former Ruby Tuesday property is expected to include about 6,500 square feet of retail space. That’s about 40 percent the size of the Chipotle/Pie Five shopping center, Evans said. [Read more…]

LeMond Composites to make carbon fiber, composite bicycles—invest $125 million, create 242 jobs

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Greg LeMond, three-time Tour de France champion, celebrated the opening of LeMond Composites, a new company he co-founded, during a ceremony on Wednesday afternoon, Oct. 12, 2016, at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. The company is expected to make composite bicycles and carbon fiber, and invest $125 million and create 242 new jobs. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A new company co-founded by Greg LeMond, a three-time Tour de France champion, will make composite bicycles and carbon fiber for other products in Oak Ridge, and the business, called LeMond Composites, will invest $125 million and create 242 new jobs, officials said during a Wednesday afternoon ceremony.

Among the officials celebrating the opening on Wednesday were LeMond, and Tennessee Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd.

Carbon fiber has advantageous properties, but cost has been a barrier to using it, said Connie Jackson, chief executive officer of LeMond Composites. She said the manufacturing process has been changed to reduce production cost.

“We have overcome a significant part of the cost barrier,” Jackson said.

Carbon fiber is light, stiff, and strong, making it the perfect material for advanced composites in a variety of applications. It can be used to improve efficiency, save energy, and build or repair vehicles and planes, wind turbines and containers, and bridges and tunnels. [Read more…]

Last Applewood Apartments tenant moves out Friday

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The last tenant of the Applewood Apartments on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle moved out Friday, Oct. 7, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 8:55 a.m. Oct. 12.

The last tenant of the Applewood Apartments was moving out Friday when Oak Ridge Today stopped by for an update.

Tenants had been told in early August that the apartments would close September 30.

On Monday, property owner Joe Levitt said he decided in the last 90-120 days to shut down the 13 apartment buildings on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle and board them up. He said it was his understanding that the last tenant was moving out this past Friday.

Levitt said he is 85 and has had health problems, and he’s trying to clean up his estate. Most of his estate will probably go to the University of Tennessee and nonprofit organizations, Levitt said.

“I’ve outlived all the people I need to take care of,” he said. [Read more…]