demolition Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Removal of K-25 north end demolition debris almost complete

April 29, 2013 By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

With the north end demolished, only a small part of the east wing remains at the once-massive K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

Workers are almost done removing demolition debris from the K-25 Building’s north end.

Only a small section of the giant building’s east wing remains. It is contaminated with technetium-99, a slow-decaying radioactive isotope. Further deactivation of that section is needed before demolition can begin, according to a recent article in “Public Involvement News,” published by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office. [Read more...]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Oak Ridge Office, Top Stories Tagged With: debris, demolition, east wing, K-25 Building, Manhattan Project, north end, Oak Ridge Office, Steve Dahlgren, technetium-99, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, URS-CH2M Oak Ridge LLC

After board declares them unfit, city posts ‘Danger’ signs on four Applewood buildings

March 28, 2013 By John Huotari 2 Comments

The Oak Ridge municipal staff has posted yellow “Danger” signs on units at four Applewood Apartment buildings on Hunter Circle.

A few days after a city board declared them unfit, the Oak Ridge municipal staff posted yellow “Danger” signs on four Applewood Apartment buildings on Hunter Circle, officials said.

Posted on Tuesday, the placards say the 48 apartment units have been deemed unfit for human occupation or use, said Denny Boss, Oak Ridge code enforcement supervisor. The notices cannot be removed until the structures are repaired or demolished.

Joe Levitt, the Knoxville attorney who owns the apartments, disagrees that they are dangerous.

“The buildings are in satisfactory engineering and architectural condition,” he said Thursday. “There’s no question about that.” [Read more...]

Filed Under: Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Applewood Apartments, code enforcement, Corum Engineering, danger, danger signs, demolition, Denny Boss, Hunter Circle, Jim Odle, Joe Levitt, Kathryn Baldwin, Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals, Oak Ridge Community Development, Tennessee Court of Appeals, unfit, unfit for human occupation or use

Board reaffirms decision to declare four Applewood buildings ‘unfit’

March 22, 2013 By John Huotari 6 Comments

Jim Odle of Odle and Young Architects in Knoxville shows a picture of a repair during a Thursday code enforcement hearing on four Applewood Apartments buildings. Also pictured at front center is Joe Levitt, owner of the apartment complex.

With no objections from members, a city board on Thursday reaffirmed a decision from more than two years ago to declare four Applewood Apartment buildings unfit for human occupation and use, and declare them nuisances.

Joe Lee, a member of the Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals, said the board’s November 2010 decision on the four buildings on Hunter Circle has already been upheld by the Anderson County Chancery Court and the Tennessee Court of Appeals.

It wasn’t immediately clear what might happen next, including whether apartment owner Joe Levitt, a Knoxville attorney, might appeal the decision, and whether the city might issue an order to vacate the buildings. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Government, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Chancery Court, Applewood Apartments, code enforcement, demolition, Hillside Road, Hunter Circle, Jim Odle, Joe Lee, Joe Levitt, John Russell, Kathryn Baldwin, Ken Krushenski, nuisance, Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals, Oak Ridge Community Development, Odle and Young Architects Inc., repairs, Tennessee Court of Appeals, unfit for human occupation and use

Video: K-25 North End Demolition

January 23, 2013 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

It took about 20 minutes to demolish the last section of the North End of the historic K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge on Wednesday morning. Shut down for several decades, K-25 was built to enrich uranium during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, and it was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

Watch the last section of the North End crash to the ground in this video:

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: demolition, K-25 Building, north end, Oak Ridge

Demolition finished on K-25′s North End

January 23, 2013 By John Huotari 1 Comment

Work crews demolish the last section of the North End of the historic K-25 Building in Oak Ridge on Wednesday. K-25 was built to enrich uranium during World War II and was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

Work crews demolished the last section of the North End of the historic K-25 Building in Oak Ridge on Wednesday morning.

Workers used a giant, orange demolition machine known as a high reach shear to bring down the four-story building, once the world’s largest under one roof. At times, the shear resembled a large dinosaur as its massive black jaws bit into the building’s 67-year-old skeleton.

Reporters, officials, and workers watched on a clear but chilly East Tennessee morning as the high reach shear sliced through vertical steel columns and tugged at horizontal beams. After about 20 minutes, the North End crashed to the ground. So did any dreams of preserving it that might have remained.

UCOR ships 15,000 loads of waste from K-25

December 24, 2012 By UCOR Leave a Comment

Some of the debris from the demolition of K-25’s east wing. (Submitted photo)

UCOR has shipped 15,000 loads of demolition debris from the K-25 Building at the East Tennessee Technology Park, the company announced last week.

The 15,000 loads represent approximately two million square feet of the deteriorated former gaseous diffusion building, built during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. That square footage is the equivalent of 40 NFL football fields combined.

The material has been sent to the Environmental Management Waste Management Facility in Oak Ridge for permanent disposition.

Guest column: Historic houses a burden or a resource?

December 19, 2012 By Pat Fain 11 Comments

In the 2013 city budget adopted this year is a line item of $250,000 to purchase and demolish severely deteriorated housing structures that have become a blight on their neighborhoods. This is not an intrinsically bad idea. It just has a few serious flaws.

This is a significant amount of money to simply throw at a symptom of a serious problem without ever addressing the underlying cause of the problem. Treating symptoms and pretending this will cure the disease is a common practice with governments, as well as doctors, businesses, and regular people. The problem is that we continue to be sick, go bankrupt, and remain dysfunctional.

Council to elect mayor, vice mayor; could hire shelter veterinarian

December 8, 2012 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge City Council will appoint a mayor and vice mayor on Monday, one month after the Nov. 6 election.

Council will also consider hiring a full-time veterinarian at the Oak Ridge Animal Shelter and approving a pair of $17,000 demolition contracts for two city-owned homes.

The current mayor, Tom Beehan, and vice mayor, Jane Miller, have both asked to be appointed to a third two-year term. In Oak Ridge, the mayor and vice mayor—officially called mayor pro tem—are also council members, and they are appointed after each municipal election.

There has been some public opposition to re-appointing Beehan as mayor. It has been led by new Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn.

UCOR removes high-risk parts from K-25′s Tc-99 area

November 6, 2012 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

UCOR uses cranes to remove high-risk sodium fluoride, or NaF, traps from the K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge. (Submitted photo)

The federal cleanup contractor in Oak Ridge announced on Tuesday that it has removed one of the highest-risk parts left in the K-25 Building.

That building was once the world’s largest building under one roof, but it has been shut down for decades and is now being demolished.

In a press release Tuesday, cleanup contractor UCOR said it had used cranes to remove five sodium fluoride, or NaF, traps. The traps contain a material that was used to absorb uranium, and they were in the section of the K-25 Building known as the Tc-99 area, which is being deactivated so it can be demolished.

Board orders home demolition, clean-up

October 12, 2012 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A city board on Thursday ordered the demolition of a Lawton Road duplex that burned in July. (Photo by Tom Scott)

A city board on Thursday ordered the demolition of a burned duplex on Lawton Road and the clean-up of a duplex unit on Bettis Lane.

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals also agreed to dismiss the case against a Tuskegee Road warehouse if the owners install boards known as fascia, maintain the property, and paint the building within 30 days.

The Lawton Road duplex burned in July. The fire was caused by a window-mounted air conditioning unit that overheated and caught fire, board members learned Thursday. The owners are reportedly interested in selling the property to the city.

The city staff reported that the Bettis Lane duplex unit is abandoned and neglected, and a city inspection found debris, spoiled food, and roaches inside, said Matt Widner, who works in Oak Ridge Codes Enforcement. The board ordered the unit cleaned within 30 days.

The board had discussed the case against the Tuskegee Drive warehouse in meetings in June and September. They could hear it again in 90 days if the owners don’t follow the board order.

City board considers home, warehouse demolitions, repairs

October 10, 2012 By John Huotari 3 Comments

A city board on Thursday will consider whether to demolish a Lawton Road duplex that burned this summer. (Photo by Tom Scott)

A city board on Thursday will consider ordering the demolition of a Lawton Road duplex that burned this summer.

The board will also consider ordering the repair or demolition of a warehouse on Tuskegee Drive that has a deteriorated exterior and exposed or open roof.

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals will also consider whether to declare one abandoned unit in a duplex on Bettis Lane to be unfit for human occupation or use, and to order that it be repaired.

The board meets at 3 p.m. Thursday in the Municipal Building Training Room.

A meeting agenda said the Bettis Lane duplex unit has been neglected, is extremely unsanitary, and insects and rodents have been observed.

The owners of the Lawton Road duplex are interested in selling their property to the city, the agenda said.

The board is re-hearing the case of the Tuskegee Drive warehouse. Ceiling and roof sheeting and rafters are deteriorated and have been repeatedly exposed to moisture, and there are electrical system hazards and general fire safety violations, the agenda said.

Filed Under: Government Tagged With: Bettis Lane, demolition, Lawton Road, Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals, repair, Tuskegee Drive

Contractor completes K-25 east wing demolition, moves to north end

September 14, 2012 By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Workers wrap up the demolition of the K-25 east wing, pictured at left, in this Sept. 5 photo. The north end is in the foreground. (Photo submitted by UCOR)

One month after a historic preservation agreement was signed, a federal cleanup contractor announced Friday that it has completed demolition work on the east wing of the K-25 Building and is preparing to demolish the north end.

Historic preservationists had lobbied for years to save the north end, but its deteriorated condition made that option unfeasible, a press release said.