The Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association will celebrate its 20th anniversary and the receipt of an S80,000 state grant during a ceremony on Saturday.
The state grant is for the new Oak Ridge History Museum, a press release said.
The public is invited to Saturday’s ceremony. The Oak Ridge History Museum is at 102 Robertsville Road in central Oak Ridge.
The museum will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission will be free that day. Normally, there is a $5 admission fee.
The ceremony to celebrate ORHPA’s 20th anniversary and the $80,000 state grant will start at 2 p.m. Tennessee Representative John Ragan, an Oak Ridge Republican who helped ORHPA apply for the grant, and Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, who is also an Oak Ridge Republican, will attend.
“We greatly appreciate their support in obtaining this important grant,” said Terry Domm, ORHPA president. “It will significantly enhance the museum experience of our visitors, allowing for the display of many more artifacts.”
The state grant will be used to improve lighting, display, and security systems, the press release said.
At 3 p.m., the museum will host a tribute to the early career of Manhattan Project photographer, Ed Westcott, the press release said.
It said the Oak Ridge History Museum features exhibits of home life within the “Secret City” of Oak Ridge during World War II.
The “Secret City” of Oak Ridge was one of three secret cities formed during World War II’s massive Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II.
The creation of the atomic bomb helped end the war and prevent another world war, opening an extraordinary era of international stability and growth, the press release said.
“This has generated unprecedented advances in science, medicine, civil rights, and international economic prosperity,” the press release said.
“Oak Ridge really changed the course of mankind,” Ragan said in the press release. “The Oak Ridge History Museum is a wonderful experience and an important facility for Tennessee and the
nation.”
ORHPA is a nonprofit organization with more than 200 members.
For more information, contact Domm at dommta@comcast.net or
Mick Wiest, founder and executive director of ORHPA, at mickwiest@hotmail.com.
More information will be added as it becomes available.
You can contact John Huotari, owner and publisher of Oak Ridge Today, at (865) 951-9692 or john.huotari@oakridgetoday.com.
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