• 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




City board recommends senior center at Civic Center; will ask for $50K for conceptual studies

Posted at 1:00 pm March 10, 2016
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Oak-Ridge-Civic-Center-March-7-2016

A city board has recommended that the Oak Ridge Senior Center be located at the Civic Center on Oak Ridge Turnpike, and the board will ask the City Council to consider $50,000 for conceptual studies, possibly in April. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

An Oak Ridge board has recommended that the city’s senior center be located at the Civic Center and Alvin K. Bissell Park, and the board will ask the City Council, possibly in April, to consider $50,000 for conceptual studies.

The Oak Ridge Senior Center is currently located in a county-owned building on Emory Valley Road. It’s been there since 1999.

Some senior center users have been advocating for a new home for years, arguing that they didn’t voluntarily leave the former Wildcat Den (the Midtown Community Center) and that their current home has a number of deficiencies. But despite those efforts, the senior center remains on Emory Valley Road.

The current effort to find a new home has been under way since last year and picked up in January, said Linda McGhee, senior programs recreation manager in the Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department.

Advertisement

On Monday, the Oak Ridge Senior Advisory Board discussed four sites that could be used for a new home: the Civic Center, which is in central Oak Ridge; the current facility, which could be purchased by the city for $1 at the end of its lease with the county; the former YWCA Building on Oak Ridge Turnpike; and the Pine Valley site, the current home of Oak Ridge Schools Preschool on New York Avenue. (There is an effort under way to possibly move the preschool to a new home at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge.)

During their Monday meeting, Senior Advisory Board members discussed property sizes, maintenance and renovation costs, building conditions, and parking spaces, among other considerations.

They favored the Civic Center site. It’s in close proximity to the Civic Center itself as well as the Oak Ridge Public Library and Alvin K. Bissell Park, McGhee said. Board members pointed out that the indoor pool is also available, especially during the day, and so are walking trails.

The Civic Center is in generally good shape, and most meetings there are in the evening, said Bob Smallridge, vice chair of the Senior Advisory Board. Some parking might be needed, but there could be savings in personnel and operating costs in the city-owned and -operated building, Smallridge said.

McGhee said some Senior Center activities could be in the Civic Center, particularly in the daytime, but some might require dedicated space.

Advertisement

Board members briefly discussed how they might avoid scheduling conflicts with other events at the Civic Center and A.K. Bissell Park, such as the Secret City Festival in June and summer youth programming.

The Senior Advisory Board will draft a letter to City Council, which Council could consider in April, McGhee said.

The SAB set up a nonprofit organization a few years ago to furnish a new Senior Center, and a feasibility study was done around 2011-2012, McGhee said.

The current board set up subcommittees to discuss the four sites considered Monday, and they evaluated the “pros and cons” of the sites.

See more information about the four sites here:

  • Oak Ridge Civic Center Site
  • Emory Valley Road Site
  • Former YWCA Building Site
  • Pine Valley Site

More information will be added as it becomes available.

Copyright 2016 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Filed Under: Front Page News, Government, Government, Oak Ridge, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Alvin K. Bissell Park, Bob Smallridge, City Council, Civic Center, Linda McGhee, Midtown Community Center, Oak Ridge Public Library, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks Department, Oak Ridge Schools Preschool, Oak Ridge Senior Advisory Board, Oak Ridge Senior Center, Senior Center, Wildcat Den, YWCA 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 Government News

Power restored to Oak Ridge except for Arboretum

Electric crews repair the damage caused by a crash into a TVA high-voltage transmission tower next to South Illinois Avenue in Oak Ridge on Friday, Jan. 22, 2021. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge) Power was restored … [Read More...]

Charges pending, three injured in crash into TVA transmission tower

Charges are pending after a crash into an electrical transmission tower that caused widespread power outages Friday afternoon, Jan. 22, 2021, the Tennessee Highway Patrol said. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge … [Read More...]

Large transmission tower knocked down, causing power outages

A large electrical transmission tower was knocked down in a crash at Union Valley Road and South Illinois Avenue on Friday afternoon, Jan. 22, 2021, causing widespread power outages. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge … [Read More...]

VITA Tax Center opens Feb. 9

The Oak Ridge Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) is now in its fourth decade of helping community residents to complete and file tax returns. The 2021 VITA Tax Center will open on Tuesday, February 9, and it … [Read More...]

TVA will blast rock to build substation

The Tennessee Valley Authority is building a substation off Old Edgemoor Lane at Haw Ridge Park, near Edgemoor Road in east Oak Ridge. The construction work is pictured above on Thursday, Jan. 21, 2021. (Photo by John … [Read More...]

More Government

Recent Posts

  • Power restored to Oak Ridge except for Arboretum
  • Charges pending, three injured in crash into TVA transmission tower
  • Large transmission tower knocked down, causing power outages
  • Protesters will say nuclear weapons illegal under UN treaty
  • VITA Tax Center opens Feb. 9
  • Roane State temporarily closes Coffey-McNally Building
  • TVA will blast rock to build substation
  • Council to consider accepting airport grants
  • Police chief to speak to League of Women Voters on Tuesday
  • Martin Luther King Jr. celebration will feature ORHS principal

Recent Comments

  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Tracy Powers on Planning Commission to consider Main Street apartments, plan revisions
  • johnhuotari on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • Levi D. Smith on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • samuel hopwood on Housing: Apartments proposed on former AMSE site
  • Matt Bailey on Robin Smith named Oak Ridge police chief

Search Oak Ridge Today

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2021 Oak Ridge Today