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Motorsports park will not be built in Oak Ridge

Posted at 5:26 pm April 6, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Horizon-Center-Motorsports-Track-6-Feb-11-2020
Part of the site where a test track and research facility or motorsports park was proposed on the back side of Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The proposed motorsports park will not be built in Oak Ridge, the developer announced Tuesday after learning that an environmental impact statement would be required, and that the study could cost several million dollars and take several years.

Rusty Bittle, developer and founding partner of the Oak Ridge Motorsports Park, said he would try to relocate the proposed project. The name will be changed as well, Bittle said.

“After more than a year of discussions between the City of Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, and the U.S. Department of Energy, Bittle decided to relocate the project to another East Tennessee community that offers more attractive options for the project,” a press release said.

“An East Tennessee motorsports park is a legacy project for me,” Bittle said in the press release. “The State of Tennessee has a reputation for automotive excellence, we are leading the way on advanced transportation technologies like electric vehicles, lightweight composites, and artificial intelligence. A motorsports park will help the state and host community build an international reputation for next generation transportation technologies and become a tourism destination for automotive enthusiasts.”

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: City of Oak Ridge, Horizon Center, motorsports park, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, Oak Ridge Motorsports Park, Rusty Bittle, U.S. Department of Energy

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The Other One Diner moving to Turnpike

Posted at 9:17 am April 6, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Other One Diner and Dive is moving from Grove Center to Oak Ridge Turnpike, the restaurant announced Tuesday morning.

Because of the move, the restaurant will be closed for the rest of the week.

When it re-opens, the restaurant will now be located at 1938 Oak Ridge Turnpike in the old Magnolia Tree restaurant.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Entertainment, Food, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: The Other One Diner and Dive

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Planning Commission to discuss site plans for storage facility, apartments

Posted at 8:14 am April 2, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission will discuss a site plan for the planned storage facility at Main Street Oak Ridge and apartments on Emory Valley Road on Thursday.

The storage facility would be built along Rutgers Avenue in the area between JCPenney and Walmart. The apartments would be at 689 Emory Valley Road.

Also on the agenda are a master plan and subarea plan amendment for The Preserve at Clinch River, Subarea G.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: apartments, Main Street Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, storage facility

Lavender Festival will not be held this year

Posted at 1:37 pm March 22, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Lavender Festival Overview
The annual Lavender Festival in June 2014 is pictured above in Jackson Square in Oak Ridge. (File photo by Ray Smith)

The Lavender Festival will not be held again this year, organizers announced Sunday after consulting with Oak Ridge city officials.

“While many people have been vaccinated and COVID-19 cases are decreasing, Lavender Festival’s crowd and limited area make it an unsafe event to hold early in the summer,” organizers said. “We have always prided ourselves on creating a happy, stress-free festival focused on good health. We cannot in good conscience create an event that would endanger our vendors or guests, many of whom attend the festival from other states, or anyone in the Oak Ridge community.”

Organizers said vendors accepted to the 2020 festival should check their email for information for vendors.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Community, Festivals, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Lavender Festival, Oak Ridge

UT-Battelle Development Corp. contributes $500,000 for proposed airport

Posted at 12:20 pm March 22, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Pictured above is Jeff Smith, president of UT-Battelle Development Corporation and vice chair of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

The City of Oak Ridge said it has received a $500,000 contribution from the UT-Battelle Development Corporation to help with the planned airport at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

The contribution is meant to provide funding that can be used to secure state and/or federal grants that require a local funding match, a city press release said.

Thomas Zacharia, president and chief executive officer of UT-Battelle and director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Jeff Smith, president of UT-Battelle Development Corporation, presented the contribution to Oak Ridge City Council at its March 8 meeting. Smith is also vice chair of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority.

“I believe the presence of a new airport will be a key differentiator for this community because it supports existing trends so clearly: The airport will make Oak Ridge more attractive to companies and professionals interested in low-cost, high-quality communities with easy access to other cities,” Zacharia said, according to the press release.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: airport, City of Oak Ridge, Jeff Smith, Mark Watson, Oak Ridge airport, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Thomas Zacharia, UT-Battelle, UT-Battelle Development Corporation, Warren Gooch

City Council to discuss special recreation district, which could allow motorsports park

Posted at 2:56 pm March 16, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Horizon-Center-Motorsports-Track-6-Feb-11-2020
Part of the site where a test track and research facility or motorsports park could be built on the back side of Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge City Council will discuss a special recreation district, which could allow a motorsports park, among other potential uses, during a meeting this evening.

The special recreation district is being considered as a zoning ordinance amendment. The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission has recommended it, but the City Council has not approved it.

A motorsports park has been proposed at the Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. The proposal has both supporters and detractors.

The zoning ordinance amendment would not endorse that specific proposal. Instead, it would create a new zoning district, the special recreation district, which could be used for large-scale recreation and entertainment developments.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Government, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: Horizon Center, motorsports park, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, zoning ordinance

Regatta season starts next week

Posted at 3:06 pm March 3, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

SIRA-Regatta-April-17-2016-6
The 2016 SIRA Championship Regatta is pictured above in Oak Ridge on Sunday, April 17, 2016. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

This year’s regatta season will start next week with the Cardinal Invitational in Oak Ridge. That rowing competition with the University of Louisville is scheduled from March 13-14 at Melton Lake Park.

Other rowing events will begin in late April and run almost every weekend through May, a press release said.

This year, the Oak Ridge Rowing Association will host, for the first time, the NCAA Division I American Athletic Conference (AAC) Championship, the press release said.

The races this year follow the cancellation of six regattas in 2020, including the NCAA Division I, II, and III Championships, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, College, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Rowing, Slider, Sports, Sports Tagged With: American Athletic Conference Championship, Cardinal Invitational, COVID-19, Explore Oak Ridge, Melton hill lake, NCAA, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Rowing Association, ORRA, regatta, rowing, Warren Gooch

ORNL FCU will lease space to Anderson County Family Justice Center

Posted at 3:49 pm February 27, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Pictured above are Melissa Miller, site coordinator for Anderson County Family Justice Center; Colin Anderson, president and chief executive officer, ORNL Federal Credit Union; and Dave Clark, district attorney general in Anderson County. (Photo courtesy ORNL FCU)

ORNL Federal Credit Union recently announced that the Anderson County Family Justice Center would lease office space in its building located on Broadway Avenue in Oak Ridge. The credit union also underwrote a number of improvements to make the space more conducive to the nonprofit’s needs, a press release said.

In July 2019, the Anderson County Family Justice Center was created by a state-funded grant aimed at helping to combat child abuse, domestic abuse, and elder abuse, the press release said. There are a total of 13 centers throughout the state. The organization’s purpose is to provide a safe, convenient location to help victims of abuse break the cycle of violence and become thriving survivors.

The Anderson County Family Justice Center partners with 15 local organizations—such as Helen Ross McNabb, YWCA Knoxville and the Tennessee Valley, Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands, and the Seventh Judicial District Attorney General’s office in Anderson County—to offer free and confidential resources to victims, the press release said. The types of services offered include law enforcement, mental health, legal assistance, and temporary housing.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Anderson County, Business, Courts, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Anderson County Family Justice Center, Colin Anderson, Dave Clark, Melissa Miller, ORNL Federal Credit Union

ORUD announces new president, general manager

Posted at 11:30 am February 26, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Jeff Patterson

ORUD has announced its new president and general manager, Jeff Patterson.

Patterson has been an employee of ORUD for a long time, the natural gas provider said in a press release Wednesday.

The ORUD Board of Commissioners made the announcement on Wednesday, February 24, after its monthly board meeting. Patterson succeeds Sue Kristjansson, who left in December 2020.

ORUD has provided natural gas in Anderson and Roane Counties for nearly 70 years.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: general manager, Jeff Patterson, natural gas, ORUD, Sue Kristjansson

Natural gas rates will rise, expected to drop when prices decline

Posted at 5:20 pm February 19, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Natural gas rates will increase for Oak Ridge Utility District customers because of weather-related price increases and higher transportation costs. Rates are expected to decrease when weather-related spikes decline.

The rates will increase because there has been a rise in the price of natural gas related to the recent extreme weather, ORUD Director of Finance/Controller Robert DePriest said Friday.

Also, in January, there was an increase in the transportation costs that ORUD pays for the delivery of natural gas to its distribution system, DePriest said in a statement.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Top Stories, Weather Tagged With: natural gas rates, Oak Ridge Utility District, ORUD, Robert DePriest

Planning Commission to discuss district that would allow motorsports park

Posted at 4:42 pm February 18, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Horizon-Center-Motorsports-Track-6-Feb-11-2020
Part of the site where a test track and research facility or motorsports park could be built on the back side of Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge is pictured above on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2020. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission is scheduled to discuss a special recreation district that would allow a motorsports park, among other potential uses.

The special recreation district is being considered as a zoning ordinance amendment. The Planning Commission will meet online, and the meeting is scheduled to start at 5:30 p.m. today (Thursday, February 18).

A motorsports park has been proposed at the Horizon Center in west Oak Ridge. The proposal has both supporters and detractors.

The zoning ordinance amendment would not endorse that specific proposal. Instead, it would create a new zoning district, the special recreation district, which could be used for large-scale recreation and entertainment developments.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Government, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: motorsports park, Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission, zoning district, zoning ordinance

Council to discuss fatal police shooting, Gateway Project

Posted at 11:02 am February 16, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge of a proposed sign along South Illinois Avenue/Pellissippi Parkway (State Route 62)

The Oak Ridge City Council this evening will discuss a fatal police shooting in August and this week’s public meetings about a planned sign at the city entrance on South Illinois Avenue/Pellissippi Parkway (State Route 62).

The Council will meet online in a non-voting work session at 6 p.m. today (Tuesday, February 16).

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: Gateway Project, Oak Ridge City Council, police shooting, sign

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