Oak Ridge Today

Budget plans for Secret City Festival discussed; DOE landfill raises concerns for Council

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Warren Gooch

Warren Gooch (Photo by Savanna Schubert)

By Savanna Schubert

There are no changes to the 2016 Secret City Festival, but Oak Ridge may enjoy the festival in a new season in 2017.

The first resolution on the Oak Ridge City Council agenda on Monday related to the Secret City Festival, an annual two-day festival that is the city’s biggest event each year but is in transition. It’s now in June, but it could be a fall event starting in 2017 and it could be transformed into a celebration that lasts a week or more.

“We are looking to broaden the festival into a series of concerts and festivals to last throughout the year,” City Manager Mark Watson said.

The 2016 festival will continue the tradition of nightly concerts, war re-enactments, and fun family-oriented activities for all ages. [Read more…]

Today: Council to consider Secret City Festival agreement, comments on DOE landfill

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The Oak Ridge City Council will consider an agreement worth up to $150,000 for the 2016 Secret City Festival and will also consider comments on the federal proposal to build a new landfill west of the Y-12 National Security Complex.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. Monday, November 16, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom at 200 South Tulane Avenue.

See the City Council agenda here. The Secret City Festival agreement is on Page 18 under Resolutions.

See the proposed comments on the U.S. Department of Energy landfill starting on Page 2 of the additions to the agenda. [Read more…]

New developer plans to close on former mall on Dec. 15

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Neil Wilson of RealtyLink at Rise and Shine on Nov. 3, 2015

Neil Wilson, left, principal of RealtyLink, gives an update on the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall at an Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce Rise and Shine at TNBank on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2015. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 11:15 a.m.

The new company leading the project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall plans to close on the property on December 15, an executive said Tuesday. It’s the first time a closing date has been announced by one of the developers associated with the project.

The new developer, RealtyLink, plans to have a minimum of seven stores open by Christmas 2016, Principal Neil Wilson said. That would include four stores adjacent to Belk and two adjacent to Walmart.

Wilson declined to name the stores but said the new mixed-use development, called Main Street Oak Ridge, could include a sporting goods store, a cosmetics retailer, one or two apparel merchants, and a 20,000-square-foot electronics shop that has signed a letter of intent. There could be a total of about 150,000 square feet of retail in those stores. There are roughly 130,000 square feet of retail at JCPenney and Belk, which will have a new facade and entrance.

Wilson said his company, which is based in Greenville, South Carolina, wants to start demolition on the enclosed spaces between the two remaining anchors, Belk and JCPenney, the day after it closes on the purchase of the roughly 60-acre property in the center of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Read the Preschool Planning Committee report here

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Elm Grove Park Oct. 21, 2015

Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge has been proposed as a site for a new preschool, and it’s considered the best potential location. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12:40 p.m.

A new preschool for Oak Ridge Schools could cost $7.5 million, and Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge is among the sites where the new 20-classroom facility could be built, a planning committee said in a report released this month.

The report is now available online. You can read a copy of it here by clicking under the link at the end of this section: VII.D. Preschool Building Committee Recommendation.

The Oak Ridge Board of Education is scheduled to consider the Preschool Building Committee recommendation during at meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, November 2, in the School Administration Building at 304 New York Avenue. You can see the agenda here.

A new preschool has been on the city’s wish list for years. The Joint City/Schools Preschool Planning Committee said the existing building on New York Avenue needs significant repairs, and renovations could cost about $7.5 million, or about as much as it would cost to construct a new facility. [Read more…]

Hayes, a former RMS principal, City Council member, dies at 76

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Tom Hayes Gym Dedication

On Thursday, January 16, 2014, Robertsville Middle School recognized former Principal Thomas W. Hayes, third from left, by naming the school gymnasium in his honor. (Photo by Oak Ridge Schools)

 

Tom Hayes, a former middle school principal and city council member in Oak Ridge, died peacefully in his sleep on Tuesday, according to his obituary. He was 76.

Hayes, who lived in Oak Ridge, was a former principal at Robertsville Middle School and a former member of the Oak Ridge City Council.

A native of Parsons, Tennessee, Thomas Warren Hayes was born November 2, 1938, and he graduated from Riverside High School. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in social studies and a master’s degree in education supervision from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge recruits for Secret City Festival board, Oak Ridge Corridor committee

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Mark Watson

Mark Watson

By Oak Ridge City Manager Mark S. Watson

The City is Oak Ridge is currently recruiting members for a new committee and the inaugural Board of Directors for a forthcoming 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.

At the September 14, 2015, City Council meeting, the City Council approved a series of resolutions based on recommendations of the Special Events Advisory Task Force to provide recommendations on planning, funding review, and execution of all special events managed or supported by the City. Based on previous City Council discussions on special events, the Special Events Advisory Task Force prioritized its focus on the Secret City Festival, an award-winning, two-day summer event that has been hosted in the City of Oak Ridge for nearly 14 years. The purpose of the nonprofit that is to be established is to assume the responsibility of implementing changes to the Secret City Festival/Celebration and other local events. The goal of the organization will be to become self-sustaining within five years (2020). [Read more…]

Mall demolition could start end of Nov., eight new stores could open by Christmas 2016

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Sears at Oak Ridge City Center

Demolition work at the former Oak Ridge Mall could start at the end of November at the former Sears store, and eight new stores could open at the redeveloped 60-acre site by Christmas 2016, officials said Monday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 6:55 p.m.

Demolition work at the former Oak Ridge Mall could start at the end of November at the former Sears store, and eight new stores could open at the redeveloped 60-acre site by Christmas 2016, officials said Monday.

RealtyLink, the new master developer announced in September, has been looking at the mostly vacant shopping center in the heart of Oak Ridge since 2009. They replace Crosland Southeast, which had been working on the $80 million redevelopment project for more than two years.

RealtyLink, which is based in Greenville, South Carolina, hopes to close on the property, which is now owned by Oak Ridge City Center LLC, at the end of November.

A demolition permit has already been issued, but it’s not in RealtyLink’s name. [Read more…]

Environmental scientist to discuss radioactive waste management Oct. 26

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Ellen Smith

Ellen Smith

Ellen Smith, environmental scientist and Oak Ridge mayor pro tem, will discuss radioactive waste management on Monday, October 26.

Smith will be the featured speaker at the luncheon meeting of AAUW (American Association of University Women). The meeting starts at 11:30 a.m. Monday at First Presbyterian Church in Room 102 of the Activities Building.

Smith’s talk is scheduled to start at noon. [Read more…]

Council to consider amending mall plan, inviting DOE to discuss travel practices

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Oak Ridge Mall

The Oak Ridge City Center, which could be redeveloped as a multi-use town center known as Main Street, is pictured above. Also known as the former Oak Ridge Mall, the L-shaped building is at center. The white building at center left is Walmart, and it is not part of the proposed redevelopment. Neither is the white building at center top, the Tinseltown Theater. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was updated at 12:35 p.m.

During a special meeting Tuesday, the Oak Ridge City Council will consider amending the economic impact plan for the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall. The change is being considered primarily because the master developer has changed.

The amendment to the economic impact plan, which also includes a date change, will be considered a day earlier, on Monday, October 19, by the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board and Anderson County Commission.

The Industrial Development Board has a public hearing and special meeting on the $13 million tax increment financing, or TIF, for the redevelopment and an amendment to the economic impact plan at 3:45 p.m. Monday, October 19, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Training Room. The County Commission is expected to consider the amendment in a meeting that starts at 6:30 p.m. Monday in Room 312 of the Anderson County Courthouse in Clinton. [Read more…]

City Council to discuss housing, infrastructure at Oct. 24 retreat

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Oak Ridge City Council on July 27, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council will discuss housing and capital infrastructure planning during a retreat on Saturday, October 24. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council will discuss housing and capital infrastructure planning during a retreat on Saturday, October 24.

The retreat is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. October 24 at the MCLinc Conference Facility at Heritage Center, 200 Heritage Boulevard. That’s 2010 Highway 58, Building K-1000.

Christina Kloker Younger of C.K. Young Creative Planning Systems will help lead the meeting, a notice said.

Copyright 2015 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Some minor changes, but Main Street project still expected to open for Christmas 2016

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Main Street Oak Ridge Belk on March 2, 2015

Construction for the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall could start first near the Belk store, the city’s retail consultant said this month. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

There have been some minor changes to the plans, but the new developer at Main Street Oak Ridge still plans to open the retail-driven, mixed-use development by the Christmas 2016 holiday season, the city’s retail consultant said last week.

RealtyLink, the new South Carolina-based developer, took over as master developer in September, replacing Crosland Southeast, the firm that had led the redevelopment effort for more than two years.

Oak Ridge retail consultant Ray Evans said RealtyLink has a good relationship with Crosland, a North Carolina-based company.

“They have essentially picked up where Crosland left off,” Evans said.

RealtyLink has plans for about 60,000 more square feet of retail than Crosland did, giving the project a total of about 460,000 square feet of retail, including in the two remaining anchors, Belk and JCPenney. [Read more…]

Council ends review of spending at Oak Ridge Marina bathrooms

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Oak Ridge Marina Bathrooms

City workers build a block wall, patch the ceiling, and hang drywall for new bathrooms and changing rooms in part of the former New China Palace restaurant at Melton Lake Park in April 2014. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

After hearing from an auditor who said he found no irregularities, the Oak Ridge City Council voted 6-1 on Monday to end a financial review of the $281,000 project to build bathrooms and changing rooms in the structure that once housed the New China Palace Restaurant at the Oak Ridge Marina.

The audit had been requested by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, who said there was an allegation at the last Council meeting that there was some problem.

“When you get in front of a camera and you allege that something bad is going on…” Watson said, then you need to hear from a third party.

Questions have been raised about the building renovation by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn, who pointed out that she wasn’t the first to raise concerns, and former City Council member Anne Garcia Garland, among others. Most of the questions and criticisms have focused on the cost. A few different numbers have been reported about what the project was initially expected to cost and what it ended up costing. The 2014 budget showed it had a projected cost of $75,000, Baughn said.

But auditor Adam Allen, a principal of Coulter and Justus, told Council members during a special report on Monday that the renovation cost about $281,000. About half of that was labor, and another 50 percent was materials, Allen said. The audit found no irregularities. [Read more…]