Oak Ridge Today

The legacy of Bill Wilcox lives on at K-25 History Center

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian, announces a book published posthumously that was written by Bill Wilcox, a former city historian, former technical director at K-25 and Y-12, and a passionate advocate for historic preservation, including the history of the former K-25 site. Smith announced the book at a ceremony unveiling plans for a K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station at the the former K-25 site, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Ray Smith, Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian, announces a book published posthumously that was written by Bill Wilcox, a former city historian, former technical director at K-25 and Y-12, and a passionate advocate for historic preservation, including of the former K-25 site. Smith announced the book at a ceremony unveiling plans for a K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station at K-25, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

He was a passionate advocate for preserving Oak Ridge’s history.

He was known for his bow ties and captivating storytelling. He once led the effort to save the former K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge, or at least part of it.

Now the legacy of Bill Wilcox will live on at the K-25 History Center.

Construction on the history center could start early next year on the second floor of Oak Ridge Fire Station Number Four. That fire station, previously transferred to the city, is on the south side of the former K-25 Building at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge.

Officials preparing for the construction of the history center gave tours of its future home at the fire station on Thursday. The tours followed a lunchtime celebration that featured tributes to Wilcox and included speeches and presentations by U.S. Department of Energy and Oak Ridge officials, and federal contractors and historic preservation advocates. Wilcox was hailed as the “father of K-25 historic preservation.”

“He would have been really proud,” said Ray Smith, Wilcox’s friend and Y-12 National Security Complex historian and city historian. “His legacy lives on.” [Read more…]

Senate bill recommends $8 million for K-25 historic preservation work

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

K-25 Historic Preservation Footprint at ETTP

An image showing the footprint of the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building at the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge, now known as East Tennessee Technology Park or Heritage Center. Built during World War II to enrich uranium, the K-25 Building has been demolished but its “footprint” has been preserved. This image shows the footprint at center, the K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station, front right, and the Equipment Building and Viewing Tower at front left. (Graphic by David Brown/U.S. Department of Energy)

 

A bill approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday recommends $8 million for K-25 historic preservation work.

If approved, the funding would help preserve the historic contributions that the K-25 Site made to the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.

The historic preservation work is required under a 2012 agreement that allowed the complete demolition of the K-25 Building, which was once the world’s largest building under one roof.

The 2012 agreement allowed workers to demolish the North Tower at the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building in west Oak Ridge. Historic preservationists had lobbied for years to save the North Tower.

In exchange for the complete demolition of K-25, the agreement, announced in August 2012, called for a replica equipment building, a viewing tower, and a history center at a city-owned fire station. It also included an online virtual museum and a $500,000 grant to buy and stabilize the historic Alexander Inn in central Oak Ridge, which has since been converted into an assisted living center. [Read more…]

Construction could start this year on K-25 History Center

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

K-25 History Center and Equipment Building

An image showing the K-25 History Center on the second floor of the city-owned fire station, right, at East Tennessee Technology Park, with the Equipment Building and Viewing Tower at left. (Graphic by David Brown/U.S. Department of Energy)

 

Construction could start this year on the K-25 History Center at the East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge, federal officials said. Plans also call for an Equipment Building and Viewing Tower at the site. Although the projects depend upon funding, the goal is to finish the work by 2019.

The K-25 site was one of three large sites built by the federal government in Oak Ridge during World War II to help make the world’s first atomic weapons as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. The other two sites were X-10, which is now known as Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and Y-12, now the Y-12 National Security Complex.

At K-25, the three history-related facilities will have three missions. The History Center will tell the story of the workers. The Equipment Building will focus on the technology. And the Viewing Tower will show visitors the size of the site. All three facilities will be on the south side of the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building.

K-25 used a process called gaseous diffusion to enrich uranium for atomic weapons and, later, for commercial nuclear power plants. Officials and contractors have said that K-25 helped win the Cold War. The site is now known as Heritage Center or East Tennessee Technology Park.

Preserving its history is part of a Memorandum of Agreement that was signed in August 2012 and allowed for the complete demolition of K-25, once the world’s largest building under one roof. The historic preservation work is expected to cost about $20 million total. [Read more…]

Preservationists concerned as NOAA seeks comment on possible move from historic building

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

noaa-building-nov-16-2016

Preservationists are concerned as federal officials seek public comment on the possibility of moving out of a historic building that is one of the few World War II-era buildings remaining on main roads in Oak Ridge—and possibly the only one left on Illinois Avenue. It was once an emergency hospital and then a health department. It now houses the Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, or ATDD, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, at 456 South Illinois Avenue. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Preservationists are concerned as federal officials seek public comment on the possibility of moving out of a historic building that is one of the few World War II-era buildings remaining on main roads in Oak Ridge—and possibly the only one left on Illinois Avenue.

The Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, or ATDD, of the Air Resources Laboratory, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is now at 456 South Illinois Avenue. It’s just north of Ole Ben Franklin Motors and across from new shopping centers on the other side of South Illinois Avenue.

During World War II, the single-story white building was an emergency hospital to serve federal plants. Oak Ridge was built in the mid-1940s, during the war, to help make the world’s first nuclear weapons as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, and it enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb used in wartime.

After the war, the building, which is now owned by NOAA, was used as the city’s health department, said Mick Wiest of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, or ORHPA.

Wiest said the building is well-maintained, and it’s received a historic preservation award from ORHPA. [Read more…]

Dover Development wins national preservation award for Alexander Inn

Posted at
By 1 Comment

Alexander Guest House Front Entrance Sept. 23, 2015

The front entrance is pictured above at the Alexander Guest House, which converted the historic but long-vacant Alexander Inn hotel into a beautifully restored assisted living center. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Rick Dover and Dover Development of Knoxville have won a national preservation award for their work to convert the historic Alexander Inn, a dilapidated, vacant two-story hotel in Oak Ridge, into the Alexander Guest House, a beautifully restored assisted living center.

Knox Heritage, which played a key role in the project, announced the award on Friday. Also playing a key role was the East Tennessee Preservation Alliance.

Dover Development won the Chairman’s Award for Achievement in Historic Preservation from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, or ACHP, a press release said. Members of the ACHP are appointed by the president of the United States.

It’s one of the highest awards given for historic preservation, the press release said. [Read more…]

Rescheduled: Learn about volunteering in the Manhattan Project National Park on Tuesday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

National-Park-Service-Employees

You can learn more about volunteering for the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, during a meeting at the Midtown Community Center from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016. National Park Service employees are pictured above. (Submitted photo)

 

You can learn more about volunteering for the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, during a meeting at the Midtown Community Center on Tuesday.

The meeting was rescheduled from this past Thursday to this coming Tuesday (January 26) because of snow last week.

The information session on volunteer opportunities will be hosted by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park-Oak Ridge. It’s scheduled from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Tuesday at the Midtown Community Center at 102 Robertsville Road in Oak Ridge.

The new park, which also includes Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico, was formally established on November 10, 2015, in a signing ceremony in Washington, D.C. The signing ceremony featured U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Interior Secretary Sally Jewell. [Read more…]

Council to receive briefing on Manhattan Project park from Park Service on Tuesday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Niki-Nicholas-National-Park-Service

Niki Nicholas

The Oak Ridge City Council will receive a briefing on the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Tuesday.

The briefing by Niki Nicholas, superintendent of the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, will be during a Tuesday evening work session on January 21. It will follow a special 6 p.m. City Council meeting for boards and commissions elections in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. (See the work session agenda here. See the special meeting agenda here.)

There will also be an orientation session next week for those interested in volunteering for the new park, which includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. That orientation session starts at 10 a.m. Thursday, January 21, at the Midtown Community Center at 102 Robertsville Road. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge celebrates new national park

Posted at
By 6 Comments

National Park Celebration at Jackson Square on Nov. 12, 2015

The iconic “War Ends” photo is recreated in part on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, with a “Park Opens” photo that celebrates the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:20 a.m. Nov. 13.

Federal officials established the new national park that includes Oak Ridge on Tuesday. Oak Ridge residents celebrated on Thursday.

The new park, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, commemorates the Manhattan Project. That was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II, before Germany could.

Oak Ridge was the main production site for the Manhattan Project, and uranium enriched at the Y-12 National Security Complex fueled the first atomic bomb used in wartime. It was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, shortly before the war ended. [Read more…]

Photos: Alexander Guest House ribbon-cutting, open house

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Tom-Beehan-Mark-Dover-Mark-Watson-Alexander-Guest-House-Nov-5-2015

Pictured above during a ribbon-cutting and open house at the Alexander Guest House on Thursday, Nov. 5, 2015, are former Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan, left; Rick Dover of Dover Development, the East Tennessee company that converted the historic two-story hotel into an assisted living center; and Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Thursday, November 5, celebrated the conversion of the former Alexander Inn, a historic two-story hotel in central Oak Ridge, into an assisted living center called Alexander Guest House.

The ceremony, which was organized by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, included an open house. Guests toured the new 64-apartment assisted living center, which is located at 210 East Madison Road in Jackson Square.

Preserving the former Alexander Inn had been a dream for years, and those who have toured the two-year, $8 million conversion, completed by Dover Development of East Tennessee, have described it as “lovely” and “absolutely tremendous,” among other superlatives. [Read more…]

Manhattan Project Park formally established in DC ceremony

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Sally-Jewell-Ernest-Moniz-Manhattan-Project-National-Historical-Park-Nov-10-2015-1

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz shortly after they signed a memorandum of agreement and created the 409th park in the National Park System, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The park was authorized by Congress in December 2014. The park will have three sites in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The ceremony took place at the South Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on November 10, 2015. (NPS Photo by Anthony DeYoung.)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9 a.m. Nov. 11.

After more than a decade of work, the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Interior formally established the Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Tuesday. The new park, which includes Oak Ridge, commemorates one of the signature scientific achievements of the 20th century. It was formally established when Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz signed a memorandum of agreement, or MOA, in Washington, D.C.

The unique, three-site Manhattan Project National Historical Park includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. It’s the nation’s 409th park.

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II—before Germany could. It was an unprecedented national program, a world-changing event that harnessed the atom, and the largest industrial project ever, employing 130,000 people at just the three park sites. Whole cities and gigantic industrial plants were built in just a few short years, and Oak Ridge quickly swelled to a population of 75,000. Plants like the B Reactor at Hanford, the world’s first large-scale plutonium production reactor, were built in 11 months, still considered a marvelous feat today. The Manhattan Project is credited with helping to end World War II through its creation of the two atomic bombs dropped over Japan in August 1945.

During Tuesday’s ceremony, officials said the Manhattan Project was a groundbreaking scientific and engineering achievement that helped end the war, ushered in the nuclear age and new discoveries, and determined how the Cold War would be fought. But it also raised important moral questions about the devastating consequences of nuclear weapons. Officials vowed to tell all sides of the story during the signing ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday morning.

“You can trust us with this story,” National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis said. “We will be fair to all.” [Read more…]

Y-12, ORNL tours offered Nov. 12 to celebrate new Manhattan Project Park

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

 

DOE Public Bus Tour

A previous public bus tour of the U.S. Department of Energy’s facilities in Oak Ridge. (File photo courtesy DOE/Lynn Freeny)

 

Public bus tours will be offered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Y-12 National Security Complex on Thursday, November 12, as part of the celebration of the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The new park, which is still being set up, includes Oak Ridge.

The special-access tours at ORNL and Y-12 are part of other planned activities in Oak Ridge, and they will include a peek inside Y-12’s Building 9731 and 9204-3 (Beta 3) and ORNL’s historic Graphite Reactor.

Y-12 and Clinton Laboratories—the wartime name for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory—were constructed as part of the Manhattan Project in 1943. The Y-12 Plant provided the Uranium-235 needed for Little Boy, the world’s first nuclear weapon used in warfare. The historic Graphite Reactor at X-10 (now ORNL) proved that plutonium could be produced in a uranium reactor on an industrial scale. These facilities will eventually become a part of the Oak Ridge location of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. [Read more…]

Thursday ribbon-cutting for historic hotel converted into assisted living center

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Alexander Guest House Front Entrance Sept. 23, 2015

The front entrance is pictured above at the Alexander Guest House, which converted the beloved but long-vacant Alexander Inn into an assisted living center. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

A ribbon-cutting ceremony has been scheduled for Thursday evening at The Alexander Guest House, a historic hotel converted into an assisted living center.

The ceremony is scheduled from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, November 5. The ribbon-cutting is scheduled for 5:45 p.m., according to the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce.

“Following this ribbon-cutting, please plan to attend an open house,” organizers said. “We hope you’ll join us to celebrate.”

The Alexander Guest House, which has 64 apartments, is located at 210 East Madison Road in Oak Ridge.

Preserving the former Alexander Inn had been a dream for years. In September, Rick Dover of Dover Development of East Tennessee, said the two-year, $8 million construction and renovation project was almost finished. [Read more…]