• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds

 

Lake City is now Rocky Top, Tennessee

Posted at 9:52 pm June 26, 2014
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Lake City to Rocky Top Vote

The Lake City Council on Thursday agreed to change the town’s name to Rocky Top as part of an effort to attract a multi-million dollar development that could include a water park, interactive theater with children’s museum, and coal miners music theater, among other things.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1:10 p.m. June 28.

LAKE CITY—Lake City is now Rocky Top, Tennessee.

For most people, Rocky Top has been, until now, the name of a bluegrass song that is wildly popular in East Tennessee and the unofficial anthem of the University of Tennessee Volunteers. Hikers might know it as a sub-peak of Thunderhead Mountain in the Great Smoky Mountains. And shoppers might recognize it as the name of a bookstore, or gas station, or wine trail, or one of many other businesses registered in Tennessee.

But officials and business leaders here have worked for months to make their town to first to use it in a city name.

The idea is to use the name change to spur developments along Interstate 75 that could be worth up to $237 million. Proposed projects include an indoor and outdoor water park, interactive theater with a children’s museum, a coal miners music theater, and laser tag, among other things. Officials have said those developments—which have also included other options such as a hotel, restaurant, and candy company—won’t happen without the name change.

Residents hope the change and subsequent developments will create jobs, add sales tax revenues, and provide a vital economic boost to this depressed town of 1,800 people in northern Anderson County.

“That’s the exciting part,” Lake City Mayor Tim Sharp said after the name change was approved by the City Council during a brief special meeting at Lake City Middle School on Thursday.

Lake City Council

During a special meeting Thursday, the Lake City Council voted 4-0-1, with one abstention, to change the town’s name to Rocky Top. From right are City Council member Andrew J. Howard, Vice Mayor Michael L. Lovely, Mayor Tim Sharp, City Recorder Christopher K. Phillips, and City Council members Donald Douglas and Shain Vowell.

 

Several hundred residents and officials from across the county attended the meeting, and they celebrated afterward with a new anthem, Rocky Top T-shirts sold as a fundraiser for middle school cheerleaders, and a sign that proclaims “Welcome to the City of Rocky Top, Tennessee.”

The name change—Lake City’s second in less than a century—had been challenged in U.S. District Court in Knoxville by House of Bryant Publications LLC, the Gatlinburg publisher that owns the copyright to “Rocky Top.” House of Bryant is owned by the sons of Boudleaux and Felice Bryant, who wrote the song in 1967. The company had filed a federal lawsuit alleging trademark infringement, false advertising, unlawful taking, deceptive trade practices, and unfair competition.

But Chief U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan had denied House of Bryant’s request to stop the name change, including in a last-minute court hearing on Thursday. The case has been appealed.

The Lake City Council had endorsed the switch in November, and it was approved by the Tennessee General Assembly in Nashville and Gov. Bill Haslam this year.

Thursday’s 4-0-1 vote ratified the private act approved by the state legislature. Seeking to avoid a conflict of interest, Lake City Vice Mayor Michael L. Lovely abstained because he is part of Rocky Top Marketing and Manufacturing Co., which is now leading the development effort and is in the process of hiring a chief financial officer who could help draft project proposals that could then be reviewed by investors.

“It’s like hiring a head football coach,” said Tim Isbel, an Anderson County commissioner and president of Rocky Top Marketing and Manufacturing Co.

Tim Isbel at Hearing on Lake City Name Change to Rocky Top

Anderson County Commissioner Tim Isbel, who is president of the Rocky Top Marketing and Manufacturing Co., at a federal court hearing in May on Lake City’s proposed name change to Rocky Top.

 

The city will now return the private act approved Thursday to state officials for final signatures. Sharp said that could take 15-20 days.

In the meantime, Lake City, now known as Rocky Top and formerly known as Coal Creek, has planned special events on July 4 to celebrate its new moniker. The day starts with a 9:45 a.m. prayer vigil and ends with fireworks at 10 p.m. In between, there will be other activities including a 3 p.m. time capsule, Little League games, and vendors and pony rides, Sharp said.

Isbel said there will also be a cookie contest that could lead to four cookie recipes that will be packaged and sold exclusively in Rocky Top for one year, with proceeds benefiting local schools.

Sharp said Rocky Top Marketing and Manufacturing Co. has several businesses lined up and will seek others. More people, mostly real estate agents, have been in touch, he said.

Lovely said the city has until December to put up its new signs. Some $28,000 to $30,000 has been set aside for that work. There will also be new stationery and logos, and revised police and fire department badges, and a temporary sign that will be erected at the northern entrance to Rocky Top.

Designer Brad Coriell, also known as “Papa C,” said the first development project, a terraced water park, could be built on 80 acres behind the BP gas station on I-75. Isbel said that freeway is the second-most heavily traveled interstate in the United States. He and Coriell said the water park, which could take two years to complete, could include eye-catching indoor rainbows.

Lake City to Rocky Top Crowd

Several hundred people turned out for the special meeting on Thursday at Lake City Middle School. Designer Brad Coriell is in the front row wearing a cowboy hat.

 

Coriell said investors would not come in to the city until the legal battle was over and the town became Rocky Top.

“We are now Rocky Top, and no one can stop that. It’s a done deal,” Coriell said. “Now, the floodgates are going to open.”

Other businesses that have expressed interest include Chick-fil-A and Holiday Inn, Coriell said.

Isbel said residents have been wanting something in Lake City for 30 years.

“The real developers of this place are the residents,” he said.

One resident said she recognized that the developments may not happen overnight. But she said the name change is a good move.

“I think it’s going to mean an influx of more jobs, and that will obviously provide a boost to the economy,” said Sharon Templin, LCMS cheerleading coach. “When you walk down the streets here, it’s like a ghost town. This town’s in major need of revitalization.”

Rocky Top T-shirts for Lake City Fundraiser

New Rocky Top, Tennessee T-shirts were available for sale as a fundraiser for Lake City Middle School cheerleaders. Pictured from left are cheerleading coach Sharon Templin, cheerleader Abbey Braden, friend Myra Kesterson, Abbey’s mother Stephanie Braden, and Abbey’s grandmother Bessie Braden.

 

Filed Under: Business, Government, Lake City, Lake City, Lake City, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County, Bill Haslam, Boudleaux Bryant, Brad Coriell, children's museum, Coal Creek, coal miners music theater, economic boost, Felice Bryant, Great Smoky Mountains, House of Bryant, House of Bryant Publications LLC, interactive theater, jobs, Lake City, Lake City Council, Lake City Middle School, lawsuit, Michael L. Lovely, name chagne, Rocky Top, Rocky Top Marketing and Manufacturing Co., Rocky Top Tennessee, Sharon Templin, tax revenues, Tennessee General Assembly, Thomas A. Varlan, Thunderhead Mountain, Tim Isbel, Tim Sharp, trademark infringement, U.S. District Court, water park

Advertisements

 


Join the club!

If you appreciate our work, please consider subscribing. Besides helping us, your subscription will give you access to our premium content.

Some of our stories are free, brought to you by Oak Ridge Today with help from our members—advertisers, subscribers, and sponsors.

But some are premium content, available only to members. Those are in-depth, investigative, or exclusive stories that are available only on Oak Ridge Today. They generally require significant time to report, write, and publish.

You can subscribe for as little as $5 per month.

You can read more about your options here.

We currently offer five primary subscription options to readers, and they include benefits.

Basic

  • Basic monthly subscription ($5 per month)—access premium content
  • Basic annual subscription ($60 per year)—access premium content

Pro

  • Pro monthly subscription ($10 per month)—access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month
  • Pro annual subscription ($100 per year)—save $20 per year, access premium content, get breaking news emails first, and submit one press release or public service announcement per month

Temporary

  • Temporary access ($3 per week for two weeks)

We also have advanced subscription options. You can see them here.

We also accept donations. You can donate here.

If you prefer to send a check for a subscription or donation, you may do so by mailing one to:

Oak Ridge Today
P.O. Box 6064
Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Thank you for your consideration and for reading Oak Ridge Today. We appreciate your support.

Commenting Guidelines

We welcome comments, but we ask you to follow a few guidelines:

1) Please use your real name, including last name. Please also use a valid e-mail address.
2) Be civil. Don't insult others, attack their character, or get personal.
3) Stick to the issues.
4) No profanity.
5) Keep your comments to a reasonable length and to a reasonable number per article.

We reserve the right to remove any comments that violate these guidelines. Comments held for review, usually from those posting for the first time, may not post if they violate these guidelines. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Thank you also for reading Oak Ridge Today and for participating in the discussion.

More information is available here.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More Business News

CNC Bootcamp returns to Oak Ridge High School this spring

A popular bootcamp is returning to Oak Ridge High School this spring thanks to a recent partnership between Roane State Community College and the Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing … [Read More...]

Trapuzzano receives Eugene L. Joyce Achievement Award

The Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce presented Tim Trapuzzano with the Eugene L. Joyce Lifetime Achievement Award at its annual awards gala, An ExtraORdinary Evening, in late January. Trapuzzano is president and chief … [Read More...]

Speakers mostly support TRISO-X fuel facility at meeting

A small group of residents who spoke at a public meeting on Wednesday were mostly supportive of a proposed nuclear fuel facility in west Oak Ridge. None of the seven local speakers opposed the project, but they had some … [Read More...]

Residents discuss Dollar General in Marlow

A handful of Anderson County residents have expressed mixed opinions in government meetings about a reported proposal to build a Dollar General store next to Oliver Springs Highway in Marlow, but the Anderson County … [Read More...]

NRC accepting comments on environmental review for nuclear fuel facility

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will have a public meeting in Oak Ridge next week to accept public comments about the environmental review for a proposed nuclear fuel facility at Horizon Center. It would be the … [Read More...]

More Business

More Government News

Residents discuss Dollar General in Marlow

A handful of Anderson County residents have expressed mixed opinions in government meetings about a reported proposal to build a Dollar General store next to Oliver Springs Highway in Marlow, but the Anderson County … [Read More...]

Read city manager’s retirement letter

This is a copy of the January 17 retirement letter from Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson to the seven Oak Ridge City Council members. Since August of 2010, I have been proud to serve the City of Oak Ridge as its … [Read More...]

Oak Ridge Public Library

Library restrooms will be renovated

The restrooms at the Oak Ridge Public Library will be renovated starting February 1. The renovations are expected to be completed by June 1. The renovations will result in increased accessibility under Americans … [Read More...]

Breakfast with Legislators resumes Monday

Breakfast with the Legislators begins this year on Monday. The monthly breakfasts are scheduled each year while the Tennessee General Assembly is in session. They are hosted by the League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge, … [Read More...]

Former AC Commissioner Hitchcock dies

Note: This story was updated at 11:30 a.m. Harry "Whitey" Hitchcock, who represented part of Oak Ridge in three terms on Anderson County Commission, died January 10. A former teacher, he was 76. Hitchcock served on … [Read More...]

More Government

Recent Posts

  • Presentation: Laws & children of different sexual identities
  • CNC Bootcamp returns to Oak Ridge High School this spring
  • Roane State Dental Clinic offering free cleanings for kids
  • UCOR announces management change
  • Y-12 honored with DOE sustainability partnership award
  • Trapuzzano receives Eugene L. Joyce Achievement Award
  • Obituaries: Jan. 28-Feb. 1, 2023
  • Basketball: Wildcats beat West in rematch
  • Basketball: Lady Wildcats undefeated in district
  • Obituaries: Jan. 23-27, 2023

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2023 Oak Ridge Today