• 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

Photos: Building demolition near Magic Wok

Posted at 8:43 am March 31, 2015
By John Huotari 5 Comments

Magic Wok Building Demolition

The demolition of the commercial building next to the Magic Wok restaurant is pictured above on Sunday, March 29. The area to the left most recently housed the Tienda Nony grocery and Appalachian Frame Shop (both stores have relocated in Oak Ridge), and the area to the right housed the Classic Cleaners. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

The demolition of the commercial building next to the Magic Wok restaurant started earlier this month.

Pictured above to the left of the Magic Wok is the demolished portion of the building that once housed the Tienda Nony grocery and Appalachian Frame Shop. (Both stores have relocated to new locations in Oak Ridge; Tienda Nony is in a shopping center off Bus Terminal Road, and Appalachian Frame Shop is at Grove Center.) The area to the right of Magic Wok once housed the Classic Cleaners.

In November, a city board ordered the building demolished within 30 days. The demolition order, which was issued earlier this month, does not apply to the Magic Wok, which is in a separate diner on the western side of the building.

The building owners had previously considered preserving about 5,500 square feet in three units on the western side of the property, among a few options. Those units would have included the demolished part of the building pictured above.

Advertisement

But earlier this month, Oak Ridge Community Development Housing Specialist Matt Widner said that portion won’t be preserved. Instead, the entire building will be demolished, Widner said.

Although the manufactured structure that houses the Magic Wok will remain for now, the restaurant won’t be able to operate without additional space for food storage. The owners haven’t announced their plans, and a sign that has been posted in a restaurant window for weeks said the Magic Wok is “closed for regrouping.” Widner said the city will wait for a plan.

Widner said the building slab will also be torn up, although the parking lot will remain. Part of the building once housed The Oak Ridger newspaper. More recently, the shopping center housed a dry cleaner, thrift store, wig shop, Tienda Nony, and the Magic Wok’s food preparation and overflow dining areas.

The Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals issued the 30-day demolition order in a 6-0 vote in November.

The building, which was once known as the Wender Building, is at 123 and 135 East Tyrone Road and just north of Oak Ridge Turnpike in the Jackson Square area.

The city staff had said the partially occupied commercial structure had been declared unfit for human occupation or use because of code violations. The staff said the estimated cost of repairs exceeded 50 percent of the building’s value, which is an important benchmark for issuing a demolition order. The staff had said the building was in a state of disrepair, lacked adequate fire and panic exits, and the roof and interior had not been adequately maintained for several years.

Magic Wok Building Demolition

The demolition of the commercial building next to the Magic Wok restaurant is pictured above on Saturday, March 28. (Photo by Julio Culiat)

 

Filed Under: Business, Business, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: Appalachian Frame Shop, Classic Cleaners, code violations, demolition, demolition order, disrepair, East Tyrone Road, Jackson Square, Magic Wok, Matt Widner, Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals, Oak Ridge Community Development, Tienda Nony, Tyrone Road, Wender Building

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.

Most 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 at least four hours 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.

More Business News

City of Oak Ridge Seal

Horizon Center power, airport update, mercury storage on Council agenda

An airport update, potential comments about mercury storage, and an overview of a proposed 69-kilovolt electrical line for the TRISO-X project at Horizon Center are on the agenda for an Oak Ridge City Council work … [Read More...]

Planning Commission to consider rezoning for nuclear fuel fabrication

The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday will consider rezoning 110 acres at Horizon Center for a nuclear fuel fabrication company. The property (Lot 6a) has been purchased from the Oak Ridge Industrial … [Read More...]

Update on downtown Oak Ridge Tuesday

A city official will give an update on the proposed development of downtown Oak Ridge during a lunchtime meeting Tuesday. The presentation will be led by Wayne Blasius, director of the Oak Ridge Planning and … [Read More...]

CROET president tells Oak Ridge story on national podcast

Teresa Frady, president of the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee, is the Spotlight Interview guest on this week’s episode of the Gone Fission Nuclear Report podcast, which covers U.S. Department of … [Read More...]

Willow Ridge Garden Center named small business of month

  Willow Ridge Garden Center has been named the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce's Small Business of the Month for February 2022. The award is sponsored by Enrichment Federal Credit Union. Willow Ridge Garden Center is … [Read More...]

More Business

Recent Posts

  • ORAU launches new app with a variety of resources available, including hundreds of STEM internships, fellowships and research opportunities
  • Disposing of uranium waste could cost at least $7.2 billion
  • Y-12 now getting power from Pine Ridge substation
  • Man sentenced to 8 years after fleeing, crashing, attempting carjackings
  • Three Ohio residents die in two-vehicle crash
  • DOE picks Idaho for nuclear test reactor
  • TBI investigating man’s death
  • Luminarias to feature peace messages
  • Oak Ridge tennis court dance is Thursday
  • DOE bus tours restart in Oak Ridge

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2022 Oak Ridge Today