Business Archives - Oak Ridge Today

Rezoning requested for about 200 homes on South Illinois

Posted at 8:34 pm July 13, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge Community Development Department

A rezoning to be considered by Oak Ridge officials next week proposes about 200 homes on 32 acres near South Illinois Avenue and Centrifuge Way in south Oak Ridge.

The property is currently zoned industrial. The request, if approved, would rezone it as low-density residential. The request will be considered by the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission on Thursday.

The property, which is currently vacant, is owned by Commercial Bank. It’s in an area north of South Illinois Avenue and the Summit, south of Mitchell Road and Crossroads at Wolf Creek, east of Lafayette Drive and Midway Lane, and west of Centrus (formerly known as USEC in a building once used by Boeing) and the University of Tennessee Arboretum.

The potential developer is not named in a review of the rezoning request by the Oak Ridge municipal staff.

“The applicant states that the prospective developer for the property plans to develop the site with approximately 200 single-family detached units,” the review said. [Read more…]

Applewood Apartments buildings demolished

Posted at 1:28 pm July 10, 2018
By John Huotari 4 Comments

After a years-long dispute over alleged code violations, the 13 Applewood Apartments buildings on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle have been demolished. The site of one former building at Hillside Road and West Hunter Circle is pictured above on Monday, July 9, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

After a years-long legal dispute over alleged code violations, the 13 Applewood Apartments buildings on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle have been demolished.

Brady Excavating and Demolition of Crab Orchard was working on removing the last apartment basement on West Hunter Circle on Monday. The basement walls are a foot thick, and Keith Brady of Brady Excavating and Demolition was using a trackhoe with a hammer attached to it to remove the concrete bunker-like walls.

The buildings themselves have already been torn down, and the debris has been hauled away.

Brady, who owns Brady Excavating and Demolition, said the next step will be grading. The site has to be leveled so that it can be mowed, won’t have holes, and will have “positive drainage.” Grading could take two to three days and could be done by next week, Brady said. Big trees on the perimeter and in the middle of the property will remain. [Read more…]

If you can’t stand the heat, eat out to support ADFAC!

Posted at 4:40 pm July 8, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Razzleberry’s has loyally supported ADFAC for over a decade! Please note, Razzleberrry’s does not serve dinner on Mondays, but is open until 9 p.m. for patrons to indulge in homemade ice cream and marketplace items. (Submitted photo)

On Monday, July 9, thirteen local restaurants are donating a portion of their sales to Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC). With a predicted high of 90 degrees on Monday, a more literal understanding of “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!” is a great way to skip cooking and participate in ADFAC’s July Dine & Donate event, a press release said.

The featured restaurant for July is Razzleberry’s Ice Cream Lab & Kitchen. Known for their homemade ice cream, eclectic international lunch menu, and pig collection, Razzleberry’s is a true hometown favorite, the press release said. Located in Oak Ridge’s historic Jackson Square, the restaurant and market is ideal for hot summer days, the release said.

“Whether trying out the latest flavor of ice cream, cooling off with an imported beer, or ordering one of Monday’s lunch specials, Razzleberry’s has something for everyone,” the press release said. “Afterward, continue your cool-down in the Jackson Square fountains!” [Read more…]

AMSE: Current museum could close this month, with new home open this fall

Posted at 4:55 pm July 4, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The current location of the American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue could close at the end of July, and the museum could re-open at its new home at Main Street Oak Ridge in the early fall, officials said. The new location is pictured above under construction on Thursday, June 21, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

In the meantime, the museum might not be open a month or two as exhibits are moved, said Ken Tarcza, manager of the Oak Ridge Office for the U.S. Department of Energy. But DOE bus tours will continue, Tarcza said at a meeting to give an update about the AMSE project at Oak Ridge High School on June 14. Some specifics of the transition haven’t been worked out yet.

Tarcza said the new 18,000-square-foot museum will feature state-of-the-art interactive exhibits and hands-on activities. It will be in renovated space on the north side of Main Street Oak Ridge near JCPenney. Besides exhibits and activities, the new museum will also have a lecture hall and two classrooms.

There will be four major categories featured in the museum, Tarcza said: energy leadership, “big science,” national security, and environmental restoration. Many of the exhibits at the current AMSE need to be refreshed, and the majority of the exhibits at the new location will have a brand-new design, Tarcza said. [Read more…]

Lavender Festival is Saturday in Jackson Square

Posted at 4:14 pm June 13, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Lavender Festival (Image Credit: Shawn Millsaps)

The Lavender Festival in Jackson Square on Saturday will celebrate health, herbs, crafts, local foods—and lavender. There will also be music, children’s activities, and a wine tasting. It’s the 20th year of the festival, which is the only Lavender Festival in Tennessee.

“The Lavender Festival is a perennial crowd favorite, full of tradition, fun, and always something new,” a press release said.

The 20th annual Lavender Festival is scheduled from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, June 16, in Historic Jackson Square in Oak Ridge.

The festival, which attracted about 8,000 people last year, is always free, with plenty of free parking available in surrounding city and business lots, and on side streets.

As is tradition, a bagpipe player will open the festival at 8 a.m., playing from upper Blankenship Field into Jackson Square. Also keeping with tradition, Alan McBride will follow with the hammered dulcimer in the bandstand. A complete music schedule is found below.

Informative presentations will be held in the lobby of Pinnacle Financial Partners, and they will include Thyroid Health & Tips for Optimal Brain function (10 a.m.), Home-Crafted Lavender Products (11:30 a.m.), and Turning Back the Bones of Time (1 p.m.).

Also returning for its third year is “A Taste of Tennessee Wines,” from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., benefitting the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Reminder: Oak Ridge will try to set world record in ‘knockout’ basketball today

Posted at 9:40 am June 9, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A reminder: Oak Ridge will try to set a Guinness World Record on Saturday in a basketball game known as “knockout” today (Saturday, June 9).

The attempt to break the previous world record is part of the Secret City Festival this weekend. The game will start at noon in the parking lot of Dick’s Sporting Goods at Main Street Oak Ridge. The first 702 people will get a free T-shirt, organizers said. Then, every 30 minutes, prizes will be awarded from Electronic Express and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

Once you have taken your shot (and missed…), you get to register for a Jeep awarded at no cost from Secret City Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram. Every 30 minutes, one of those registrations will be pulled as a finalist for the drawing for the Jeep on June 27, organizers said. (You must be present to win and 18 and over with a valid driver’s license).

The Dallas Mavericks set the record for the largest game of basketball knockout with 701 participants in Dallas, Texas, on October 4, 2015. The game lasted 27 rounds and more than three hours, according to Guinness World Records. Team owner Mark Cuban was there before the record-setting attempt to check out the court and the turnout, and he also motivated the basketball shooters.

Organizers of this year’s Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge want to do better than Cuban and the Mavericks. They need at least 702 shooters to set the new world record. [Read more…]

McGuire Books closing, while Packard’s store re-opened

Posted at 6:59 pm June 2, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

McGuire Books in Oak Ridge is closing. Law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at the store, which also sells CDs, DVDs, games, and electronics, on Thursday, May 24, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

McGuire Books in Oak Ridge is closing, while Packard’s Games and Movies in Clinton has re-opened and Packard’s in Kingston is expected to re-open.

The McGuire Books store in Oak Ridge, which also sells compact discs, digital video discs, games, and electronics, said it was closing after it was searched and some items were seized by law enforcement starting at about noon Thursday, May 24. The store was open the next day, Friday of last week, with a skeleton crew of staff members, although there were, at that time, shelves that were conspicuously empty at the front of the store. Law enforcement officers were reported to have taken DVDs, games, and some other items.

The search last week, which continued into Thursday night and involved several large moving trucks, was led by the Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force of Anderson County. The CTF was helped by the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department, the Eighth Judicial District Drug Task Force, Knox County Sheriff’s Office, and Clinton Police Department. Seventh Judicial District Attorney General Dave Clark and Assistant District Attorney General Ryan Spitzer were also at the store.

Officers were observed removing boxes of items from McGuire Books and packing them into the moving trucks last week. Crime scene tape blocked entry to the store, and a Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force crime scene truck was parked out front. The purpose of the search has not been announced. [Read more…]

Demolished building once helped protect city, enriched uranium at Y-12

Posted at 2:18 pm June 1, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A building that was mostly demolished on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, once helped to protect enriched uranium at Y-12, and it was used by military police and the Oak Ridge Police Department to help protect the city. Part of the building, a former secure federal communications center, was still standing among the demolition debris late Wednesday afternoon. This picture was taken looking southeast from near the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 8:30 a.m. June 2.

A building that was mostly demolished on Wednesday once helped to protect enriched uranium at Y-12, and it was used by military police and the Oak Ridge Police Department to help protect the city.

The building at 101 Bus Terminal Road was once connected by radio to a Y-12 building that stored the world’s only supply of enriched uranium-235, according to a 2010 newspaper article published by D. Ray Smith, who cited Bill Sergeant, head of security after World War II.

A small section of the Bus Terminal Road building that still had historic artifacts—two holding cells and a heavy, bulletproof steel door—remained standing, surrounded by demolition debris, on Wednesday and Thursday. It’s not clear why that one section hadn’t been demolished yet, but the 2010 newspaper article by Smith said it had been a secure federal communications center and was built to be safe from attack. That small section of the building, which had no external windows, was reported to have a concrete ceiling that was one foot thick.

The building, which is at the intersection with Oak Ridge Turnpike, is now being completely demolished so a Taco Bell restaurant can be built there. The building had been extensively modified, and it’s not clear how much of it might have been considered historic.

Smith said the Bus Terminal Road building was once connected by radio to Building 9213, which stored uranium-235 for about a year at Y-12. Building 9213 is on the south side of Chestnut Ridge, which is on the south side of Y-12. After it briefly stored uranium, Building 9213 was used for criticality experiments for years, Smith said. It’s also been used to train the National Guard to identify and isolate radioactive sources as part of their training for homeland security. [Read more…]

City hosting more than 400 national, regional leaders at Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit

Posted at 8:32 am May 29, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

More than 400 people will gather at the CNS Y-12 New Hope Center on Scarboro Road in south Oak Ridge from May 29-31 for the annual Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit. The theme of the summit is “Connecting People, Ideas, Opportunities.”

The event is hosted by Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch in cooperation with U.S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge.

The Summit will bring together regional leadership from five states—Tennessee, Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Virginia—to discuss clean energy, cyber and national security, advanced manufacturing, and education. The Summit will also celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the City of Oak Ridge, the 85th Anniversary of the Tennessee Valley Authority, and 50th Anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 8 Mission.

If you did not register online, you can register onsite starting at 2 p.m. May 29 at the New Hope Center. [Read more…]

Law enforcement search at McGuire could continue through Thursday night

Posted at 12:02 am May 25, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The law enforcement search at McGuire—a store that sells used books, compact discs, digital video discs, and electronics—is expected to last hours and continue through the night Thursday, May 24, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Note: This story was last updated at 9:45 a.m. May 25.

The law enforcement search at McGuire—a store that sells used books, compact discs, digital video discs, and electronics—is expected to last hours and continue through the night (Thursday night).

The Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force of Anderson County executed search warrants at McGuire Used Books, CDs, DVDs, Games, and More starting at about noon Thursday. There were reported to be about a dozen employees in the store at the time the search began.

Authorities declined to say why they were searching the store on Thursday afternoon. But they had a stack of moving boxes ready to be folded and numerous boxes folded and ready to be used, and there were several moving trucks parked near the store, including one right in front of it.

Crime scene tape blocked entry to the store, and a Seventh Judicial District Crime Task Force crime scene truck was parked out front.

At about 10 p.m. Thursday, it appeared that boxes with items inside were occasionally being brought out of the store and loaded into the moving truck parked in front of McGuire. [Read more…]

Registration for Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit extended through today

Posted at 9:07 am May 18, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Registration for the Tennessee Valley Corridor National Summit in Oak Ridge this month has been extended through today (Friday, May 18).

The TVC Summit is scheduled from Tuesday, May 29, to Thursday, May 31, at the New Hope Center at the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Organizers said the Summit will include five main sessions focused on clean energy, cyber and national security, advanced manufacturing, and education. The Summit will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the City of Oak Ridge, the 85th anniversary of Tennessee Valley Authority, and 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 8 Mission.

There will be more than 50 speakers, panelists, and presenters, ranging from university and community college presidents to entrepreneurs to top leaders of the region’s federal contractors. More than 400 community, academic, and government leaders from the five-state region are expected to participate, organizers said. [Read more…]

Registration deadline is today for Tennessee Valley Corridor Summit

Posted at 5:25 pm May 15, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

On May 29-31, more than 400 community, academic, and government leaders from the five-state region will gather at CNS Y-12’s New Hope Center for the 23rd Annual Tennessee Valley Corridor (TVC) Summit.

The Summit’s theme is: “TVC: Connecting People, Ideas, Opportunities,” and will be hosted by Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch in cooperation with Congressman Chuck Fleischmann. Registration is available at www.TennValleyCorridor.org until May 15.

The Summit will include five main sessions focused on clean energy, cyber and national security, advanced manufacturing, and education. The Summit will also celebrate the 75th anniversary of the City of Oak Ridge, the 85th anniversary of Tennessee Valley Authority, and 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 8 Mission.

There will be more than 50 speakers, panelists, and presenters, ranging from university and community college presidents to entrepreneurs to top leaders of the region’s federal contractors, a press release said. Speakers for the event include: [Read more…]