Note: this story was last updated at 6:35 p.m.
Clark Center Park in Oak Ridge will close at 10 p.m. today (Wednesday) because of a lapse in federal government funding.
The park is located on the south side of town on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Reservation at 2000 Bull Bluff Road. The park will remain closed until further notice, a DOE statement said.
The partial government shutdown started more than two weeks ago on Oct. 1 after Congress failed to pass a spending bill. Some agencies such as DOE and its contractors continued to operate until there was a lapse in funding and all available money was spent.
On Wednesday evening, NBC News reported that both houses of Congress were moving to quickly pass a Senate bill to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling. The bill was expected to pass with bipartisan majorities after Republicans, including Sen. Ted Cruz, who had earlier led a fight in the Senate to defund “Obamacare” as part of a spending package, agreed not to block the legislation.
The Senate is expected to vote first, with the House following suit Wednesday evening, NBC said.
The government’s borrowing authority expires tomorrow, and it’s been partially shut down for more than two weeks, with several hundred thousand federal workers furloughed. As the federal shutdown has dragged on, local DOE sites and federal contractors have prepared for possible shutdowns and furloughs of their own.
Andrew Howe says
LOL. I have no idea why they’d need to ‘shut down’ this park. Just leave it open and don’t spend any money on it, for dog’s sake! It’s a freaking boat launch and some grassy areas. People can still enjoy it even if the grass isn’t mowed for a couple of weeks.
I mean, I must imagine the DOE will still be patrolling Bull Bluff Rd, or whatever they must do down there to keeps nuns off the lawn.
What are the reasons they felt they had to shut it down to the public?