Oak Ridge Today

Unitarian Universalists dedicate new church today

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The Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church will dedicate its new church today (Sunday, October 19), and the community is invited, a press release said.

The new church is at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike. The church moved from its former location at Robertsville Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike to make way for the new Kroger Marketplace shopping center.

The UU Church has been used for a range of community events including League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge and Breakfast Rotary Club of Oak Ridge.

The press release said today’s service will begin at 4 p.m. Pianist Mary Hook will begin playing at 3 p.m. [Read more…]

Spotlight: Picture of Turnpike, Illinois Avenue shopping area in 1944

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Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike Shopping Area

The shopping area at Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike, where the new Kroger Marketplace is now, is pictured above in 1944. (U.S. Department of Energy photo by Ed Westcott)

 

The shopping center at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue where the new Kroger Marketplace is now was previously home to a shopping area.

Here is a picture of that area taken by Ed Westcott in 1944. Westcott was the official government photographer here during the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II, when Oak Ridge was built to help enrich uranium for the world’s first atomic weapons.

The photo is on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office page on Flickr.

The new Kroger store, which replaced a few businesses and a small neighborhood, is the company’s fifth in Oak Ridge, and it opened a few weeks ago. The new shopping center has been named the Westcott Center in honor of Westcott.

Note: Thanks to Ginny Boeing Manning at RSI for bringing this photo to our attention.

Kroger Marketplace to open June 29

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Kroger Marketplace Storefront

The storefront of the Kroger Marketplace, which is under construction at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. The new store is expected to open June 29.

 

The Kroger Marketplace is expected to open June 29.

The new, larger Kroger store is under construction at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. Among other things, it will include a pharmacy, Little Clinic, Starbucks Coffee, Fred Meyer Jewelry, Sun Trust Bank, and fuel center.

The older, smaller Kroger store a few miles away on South Illinois Avenue will shut down after the Kroger Marketplace opens. The new 123,000-square-foot store is in a $33 million shopping center that is still under construction. The 25-acre site has been named the Westcott Center in honor of Ed Westcott, the official government photographer in Oak Ridge during the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II. [Read more…]

Guest column: Tax hike will hurt city’s ability to recruit DOE workers

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The Oak Ridge Schools are requesting a substantial property tax increase to fund items they see as essential to their future.

Yet an Oak Ridge tax hike will markedly reduce our city’s ability to recruit new U.S. Department of Energy workers. According to the latest DOE report, Anderson County is losing over $300,000 per week to Knox County in DOE payroll. That loss rate is increasing, and a tax hike would make this serious problem worse.

Unfortunately, our city has a DOE “isolation fence” around it. In most cases, new workers are sent by the DOE system directly to Knox County—mainly to Farragut. And as a result, their important housing decisions are made without talking to an Oak Ridge realtor. They never get an opportunity to find out how wonderful it is to live here.

The new Kroger store won’t affect this uneven playing field. A property tax hike (of any size) will simply make the problem worse—giving Farragut an even greater advantage over us. [Read more…]

Guest column: Baughn’s budget recommendations to city manager

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Trina Baughn

Trina Baughn

The following are my 2015 budget recommendations to the city manager:

Mr. Watson,

I commend you for your willingness to reduce spending in your formulation of the Fiscal Year 2015 city budget. This approach is essential to making Oak Ridge more attractive to prospective residents and businesses.

As you know, Oak Ridge has the third highest city/county property tax rate in East Tennessee at $4.74. What you may not realize is this year, the city of Knoxville dropped below us in these rankings with a combined city/county rate of $4.71 while the majority of Knox Countians still pay less than half of our rate at $2.32.

In response to your request for council suggestions, I encourage you to set a very obtainable goal. That is, reduce our total budget by .05 percent ($90,000) and return those monies to the taxpayers in the amount of a one-cent tax rate reduction. The following are my suggestions for accomplishing this goal. [Read more…]

Spotlight: Hard hats required at ORUUC Easter sunrise service

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ORUUC Easter Sunrise Service

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Twenty-two members of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church held a sunrise service on Easter morning at the site of their new building at 809 Oak Ridge Turnpike.

While the building won’t be finished until this fall, members received permission from Hickory Construction to use the site for this special purpose, provided they each wore hard-hats. So, it was with a light spirit that the small group celebrated the in-breaking of a new light, of new life, and the resurrection of Jesus. [Read more…]

Part of Robertsville Road to close Wed.-Fri. for Kroger utility work

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A short stretch of Robertsville Road will be closed from Wednesday to Friday this week for underground utility work for the new Kroger Marketplace shopping center.

The work will be done on Robertsville Road between Oak Ridge Turnpike and Raleigh Road. The street closure is subject to weather that could cause a delay in the work, a city press release said.

“No through traffic will be permitted on this portion of Robertsville Road during the closure,” the release said. “Local traffic will be permitted to access the Unitarian Church, and the Oak Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau, and Heritage and Preservation Association from the Robertsville Road/Raleigh Road intersection. Motorists should use caution while traveling near the closure area.”

Questions or comments concerning this closure can be directed to the Oak Ridge City Engineer at (865) 425- 1807. Visit www.oakridgetn.gov for more information.

Blasting continues at Kroger Marketplace site on Monday

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Kroger Marketplace Site Plan

Kroger Marketplace Site Plan

Blasting at the Kroger Marketplace construction site is scheduled to continue at 2 p.m. Monday.

Police officers will stop traffic on Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike for the duration of the blast, which will be about three to five minutes, a press release said.

During the blasting, Illinois Avenue traffic will be blocked from Robertsville Road to Oak Ridge Turnpike, and Oak Ridge Turnpike traffic will be blocked from the Illinois-Turnpike intersection east to Robertsville Road. [Read more…]

Blasting at Kroger Marketplace site continues Monday, Thursday

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Kroger Marketplace Building Construction

Building construction has started at the new Kroger Marketplace shopping center, and blasting at the site is scheduled to continue next week.

Building construction has started at the new Kroger Marketplace shopping center, and blasting at the site is scheduled to continue next week.

The blasting started this week in short sessions that lasted a few minutes each on Monday and Thursday afternoons.

The blasting is expected to continue next week at 2 p.m. Monday and Thursday, a city press release said. [Read more…]

Demolition under way, construction could start this fall on Kroger Marketplace

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Kroger Marketplace Site Work

A half-dozen excavators, scrapers, dump trucks, bulldozers, and loaders were moving dirt and debris and knocking down trees late Friday afternoon on the north side of the planned Kroger Marketplace, near Raleigh Road and the former Robin Lane in Oak Ridge.

Demolition work is under way, and construction could start this fall on a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center in Oak Ridge that is expected to include a range of services from a fuel center and sushi shop to a drive-through pharmacy and Baby World.

Demolition at the shopping center—named the Westcott Center in honor of renowned photographer James Edward Westcott—began Monday, July 29, said Glynn Jenkins, director of communications and public relations for the The Kroger Co.’s Atlanta Division. Home demolition work is expected to be completed by Aug. 23.

The demolition of the former Super 8 motel, Vista Inn, and Cancun’s restaurant on Oak Ridge Turnpike and North Illinois Avenue is expected to start next week. [Read more…]

Council approves rezoning for Kroger Marketplace shopping center

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Kroger Marketplace Site Plan

Kroger Marketplace Site Plan

Note: This story was updated at 9:44 p.m.

A rezoning approved by Oak Ridge City Council on Monday could allow Kroger to move into a new store that would almost double its space.

The company has been interested in expanding in Oak Ridge for about four years, said Paul Xhajanka, Kroger real estate manager in Atlanta, Ga. However, that hasn’t been possible at the current site at South Illinois and Rutgers avenues due to space constraints and other tenants.

So, the company now plans to move a few miles north to a 25-acre development at the busy intersection of Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike.

Council voted 6-0 on Monday to approve a rezoning for that $30 million shopping center, which would be anchored by a 113,000-square-foot Kroger Marketplace.

As proposed, the shopping center would replace a neighborhood of about 55 homes, two hotels, a restaurant, day care center, and church. A handful of the homeowners who have agreed to sell their properties are considering whether to move their homes, Xhajanka said.

[Read more…]

Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalists agree to sell for Kroger development

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Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church

The congregation of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to sell their building and 3.6 acres to the developers of a new Kroger shopping center.

Note: This story was last updated at 11:01 a.m. Oct. 1.

It was a difficult decision for many, but members of the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to sell their building and 3.6 acres to make way for a new Kroger development that could open in 2014.

There were 169 votes in favor of selling and 12 opposed. The vote to sell required a two-thirds majority, or 120 votes.

The sale price for the heavily used property—a serene, wooded tract in the heart of Oak Ridge—has not been publicly disclosed.

[Read more…]