Oak Ridge Today

Council to consider reviewing, investigating ORPD in special meeting Friday

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Oak Ridge City Council on Feb. 9, 2015

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, Feb. 9, agreed to a third-party review of turnover and morale in the Oak Ridge Police Department but rejected requests for two other probes. On Friday, March 27, the Council could consider reviewing or investigating the ORPD—there has been a dispute over which term to use—placing the police chief on administrative leave, or accepting a proposal from the Municipal Technical Advisory Service to conduct a 30-day review. (File photo)

 

The Oak Ridge City Council will consider whether to review or investigate the Oak Ridge Police Department during a special meeting on Friday, March 27. The Council will also consider whether to place the police chief on administrative leave during the investigation, if one is conducted.

City Council members Trina Baughn and Rick Chinn called for the special meeting earlier this month, and it was set for this Friday, March 27. Baughn and Chinn asked to set the parameters of an investigation and possibly select an investigator during the special meeting. They also asked to discuss and possibly vote on placing the police chief on administrative leave during the investigation.

Once it became clear that the special meeting would be called, Council members Ellen Smith and Charlie Hensley asked to consider selecting a reviewer to conduct the police review, as opposed to an investigation, approved in February. [Read more…]

Main Street Oak Ridge signs first anchor lease, other leases could follow

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Main Street Oak Ridge

Main Street Oak Ridge would redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall as a mixed-use project that could include retailers, restaurants, residential units, and possibly a hotel. The existing space between the two remaining anchors, Belk and JCPenney, would be demolished, although those two stores would remain.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 10:15 a.m. March 27.

The developers who want to convert the former Oak Ridge Mall into Main Street Oak Ridge signed their first anchor store lease last week, an executive said Thursday.

And three to five more leases could be signed in the next month or so, said Tim Sittema of Crosland Southeast, the North Carolina company that has proposed the roughly 60-acre redevelopment.

Main Street Oak Ridge would redevelop the mall as a mixed-use project that would include retailers, restaurants, residential units, and possibly a hotel. The existing space between the two remaining anchors, Belk and JCPenney, would be demolished, although those two stores would remain. [Read more…]

Big day: Main Street Oak Ridge, Manhattan Project Park on Thursday’s agenda

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Main Street Oak Ridge Presentation

Pictured above during a presentation on Main Street Oak Ridge last week are Crosland Southeast partner James Downs, right; Barry James, Crosland Southeast senior vice president, center; and Houston E. Daugherty, Cannon and Cannon vice president.

 

A vote that could help Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall, is on Thursday’s agenda. So is an open house on the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

They are among two of the biggest projects in Oak Ridge in years, and both are considered key parts of an economic renaissance that also includes new business development along Oak Ridge Turnpike and South Illinois Avenue, a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center, the proposed multi-billion-dollar Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the announcement by metal powder manufacturing company CVMR this month that it will move its operations from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.

A rezoning has been requested for Main Street Oak Ridge. It will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission during a meeting that starts at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 26, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. The Planning Commission will also consider a planned unit development, or PUD, master plan for the project. [Read more…]

Planning to preserve history of K-25, which could be part of national park

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K-25 Building Aerial View

Now demolished, the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building, pictured above, was once used to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. Located in west Oak Ridge, the site could become part of a new Manhattan Project National Historical Park. There is a separate effort to preserve K-25’s history; that work could be incorporated into the new park. (Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Energy)

 

It was once the world’s largest building under one roof and part of the one of the largest industrial projects ever, a top-secret program to build the world’s first atomic weapons in World War II.

Today the building is gone—demolition was completed in December 2013—but the stories of what took place inside the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building could live on in a replica equipment building, viewing tower, and history center.

And K-25 could become part of a new Manhattan Project National Historical Park approved by Congress in December and signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 19. The 14-page bill was the culmination of 15 years of work, said Colin Colverson, Manhattan Project Park lead in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office.

The law recognizes the Manhattan Project as one of the most significant events in U.S. history, with assets and history that must be preserved. It’s considered one of the top scientific achievements of the 20th century, and Oak Ridge residents still marvel at how quickly the three local sites (K-25, X-10, and Y-12) were built and began operating in all-out race to build an atomic bomb before Germany. [Read more…]

Main Street Oak Ridge rezoning, master plan to be considered Thursday

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Main Street Oak Ridge Presentation

Pictured above during a Monday presentation on Main Street Oak Ridge are Crosland Southeast partner James Downs, right; Barry James, Crosland Southeast senior vice president, center; and Houston E. Daugherty, Cannon and Cannon vice president.

 

The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission will consider a rezoning request for Main Street Oak Ridge during a Thursday meeting.

The Planning Commission will also consider a planned unit development, or PUD, master plan for the project.

Main Street Oak Ridge is the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall, now officially known as the Oak Ridge City Center.

The Thursday meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. [Read more…]

Main Street Oak Ridge developers aim to close on property in June

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Main Street Oak Ridge James Downs

James Downs, Crosland Southeast partner, gave an update on the Main Street Oak Ridge project, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall, during a Monday evening work session.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:20 p.m.

The North Carolina company that wants to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall as Main Street Oak Ridge could close on the property in June, an executive said Monday.

The mixed-use project could include retailers, restaurants, and residential units, as well as a hotel. Belk and JCPenney, the two remaining anchor stores at the mostly empty mall, would remain, said James Downs, partner in Crosland Southeast, the North Carolina company that has proposed the long-awaited redevelopment of the roughly 60-acre site.

Downs said Main Street Oak Ridge will include a total of about 325,000 square feet of retail space, or about 200,000 square feet of retail space more than what Belk and JCPenney have now. There would then be a total of about 600,000 square feet in the area. [Read more…]

Council to discuss postponed stoplight at ORHS, Senior Center lease extension

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Oak Ridge Turnpike and High School Stoplight

The Oak Ridge City Council on Tuesday will discuss the proposed traffic signal on Oak Ridge Turnpike at the High School and a proposal to extend the lease on the Senior Center for five years through 2019.

Those are two of the agenda items for a Tuesday evening work session.

The City Council postponed a vote last week on a contract to install a stoplight on the Oak Ridge Turnpike in front of Oak Ridge High School. The light could eliminate the need for a crossing guard.

City officials had said the light could be installed by August 2015, but the postponement of the contract vote to the April meeting will likely delay the completion date, possibly until after school starts later this year. [Read more…]

Demolition work starts on building next to Magic Wok

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Tyrone Road Building Demolition-east-end

Demolition work has started on a commercial building on East Tyrone Road just east of the Magic Wok restaurant. Demolition work on the east end of the building is pictured above on Friday afternoon.

 

Demolition work has started on a commercial building on East Tyrone Road behind the popular Magic Wok restaurant. On Friday, an excavator had started demolishing the eastern part of the small shopping center. A demolition permit was reportedly issued this week.

In November, a city board ordered the building demolished within 30 days. The demolition order 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. But on Friday, Oak Ridge Community Development Housing Specialist Matt Widner said that portion won’t be preserved. Instead, the entire building will be demolished, Widner said. [Read more…]

Officials celebrate new bridge, road relocation, haul road for UPF at Y-12

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Bear Creek Road Extension and Bridge

Pictured above is the new Bear Creek Road extension and bridge on the west side of the Y-12 National Security Complex.

 

They called it their first major milestone: the completion of site readiness work, delivered on time and under budget. The work included the relocation of Bear Creek Road, a new bridge, and construction of a haul road.

It’s part of the project to build a Uranium Processing Facility at the Y-12 National Security Complex. UPF could replace World War II-era buildings at Y-12. The project has been capped at $6.5 billion, and it’s expected to be completed by 2025.

Federal officials and contractors celebrated the completion of the site readiness subproject in a Friday morning ceremony at Y-12. [Read more…]

Metal powder manufacturing company investing $313 million in Oak Ridge, adding 620 jobs

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Michael Hargett and Kamran Khoza of CVMR USA

CVMR President Michael Hargett, left, and Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer, joined local, state, and federal officials on Friday to announce they’re moving company headquarters from Toronto to Oak Ridge, investing $313 million and adding 620 jobs.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12 a.m.

A company that manufactures high-purity metal powders and super alloys is moving its operations to Oak Ridge from Toronto, Canada, and investing $313 million here and creating 620 jobs, officials said Friday.

CVMR, which has operations in 18 countries, will use the former Theragenics building at Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge for its headquarters and research and development. The company closed on that building, which is on 21 acres, on Friday, but executives declined to disclose the sale price.

The first employee was hired Thursday, said Kamran Khozan, chairman and chief executive officer of CVMR (USA) Incorporated.

The company could expand that 65,000-square-foot building; infrastructure that is already in place allows it to be doubled. The company could put 218 people to work right away in its new headquarters and add 402 high-paying manufacturing jobs later, a state official said.

“I can promise you that this is the start of a wave,” said Randy Boyd, the new commissioner of Tennessee Economic and Community Development. [Read more…]

Fourth-quarter comeback not enough as Wildcats fall to Mustangs in state quarterfinal

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Note: This story was last updated at 4 p.m.

After falling behind by 12 points, Oak Ridge narrowed the Memphis East lead to two in a fourth-quarter comeback sparked by junior Darel Middleton, but it wasn’t enough as the Wildcats lost to the Mustangs in a state quarterfinal game in Murfreesboro on Wednesday.

It’s the end of the season for the Wildcats (29-4), who played their last game with senior Ted Mitchell.

Sophomore Tajion Jones hit four three-pointers for Oak Ridge in the BlueCross Basketball Championship game at Murphy Center at Middle Tennessee State University. Three of those were in the first two quarters, and they helped give the Wildcats a 30-28 lead at halftime. [Read more…]

Learn more about Main Street Oak Ridge during joint meeting Monday

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Main Street Oak Ridge Belk on March 2, 2015

The Belk store at the Oak Ridge City Center, which could be redeveloped as Main Street Oak Ridge, is pictured above.

 

There will be a presentation on Main Street Oak Ridge, the redevelopment of the former Oak Ridge Mall, during a Monday evening meeting.

The joint meeting will include the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission and the Traffic Safety Advisory Board. It starts at 5:30 p.m. Monday, March 16, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom.

The presentation will be given by Crosland Southeast, the North Carolina company that has proposed the redevelopment, and Cannon and Cannon Engineering. [Read more…]