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Council to consider revised Main Street plan

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The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday, May 13, 2019, will consider the revised plan for Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider the revised plan for Main Street Oak Ridge, the 58-acre project to redevelop the former Oak Ridge Mall.

An earlier version of the revised plan was rejected by Council in a 3-4 vote in January. But since then, a new revised plan has been submitted to the city. In April, the Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission recommended 7-1 that the new plan, which is similar to the earlier plan, be approved with some conditions.

The revised plan is being considered as RealtyLink, the South Carolina developer, prepares to welcome a second wave of tenants to the site, which is in central Oak Ridge. It would be the second phase of the project, and it could include 90,000 square feet of new retail buildings, an open space near the Belk store, and new sidewalks and crosswalks. It could also include a bus drop-off area near the relocated American Museum of Science and Energy.

[Read more…]

Secret City Radio Show presents Robinella, Sarah Pirkle on Friday

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The Secret City Radio Show on Friday, May 10, 2019, will feature local singer/songwriter Robinella with special guests songwriter/fiddle player Sarah Pirkle and Giffin Vann. (Submitted photo)

The Secret City Radio Show on Friday will feature local singer/songwriter Robinella with special guests songwriter/fiddle player Sarah Pirkle and Giffin Vann.

The Secret City Radio Show will be broadcast live from the new American Museum of Science and Energy in Oak Ridge by East Tennessee’s WDVX 89.9 FM. The show is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Friday, May 10. You can also listen on 102.9 FM in Knoxville, at 93.9 FM in Seymour and Kodak, and online at WDVX.com.

Amber McBride of Oak Ridge National Laboratory will present some innovative bioscience technology that is preserving forests around the world, and UCOR will present the Clinch River Trail Alliance, a press release said.

[Read more…]

Former Space Station division director to speak in Oak Ridge on Thursday

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Mark Uhran

Mark Uhran, former director of NASA’s International Space Station Division, will speak in Oak Ridge on Thursday. The title of his presentation is “An Achievable Vision for Space Exploration: Establishing a Gateway Proving Ground for Space Exploration Technology.”

The event is sponsored by Friends of ORNL. It is free to attend, and it will be held at the new American Museum of Science and Energy at 115 East Main Street in Oak Ridge.

It’s the opening of the 22nd Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series. A reception will be held in the auditorium anteroom starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture starts at 6 p.m. in the museum auditorium, a press release said.

“This talk should be of interest to students and the general public,” the press release said.

[Read more…]

AMSE celebrates 70 years

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Image courtesy American Museum of Science and Energy

Image courtesy American Museum of Science and Energy

 

The American Museum of Science and Energy is celebrating 70 years. As part of the celebration, there are three events scheduled next week, on March 19 and March 23, at AMSE and Oak Ridge History Museum.

It’s being called a platinum anniversary celebration of science, ingenuity, and the catalyst of the Atomic Age.

“As an anchor of the community, AMSE is proud to celebrate a city that once only existed a vision,” a press release said. “The footprint of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, will forever be etched into history as one of the foundations of the Manhattan Project. Seventy years ago, steps were taken to preserve that vision and recognize how the world was changed by the ‘Secret City.’ The museum tells the story about how and why people learned to split the atom. On March 19, 1949, the city’s gates and the nation’s first atomic energy museum, named the American Museum of Atomic Energy, were opened to the public for the first time. [Read more…]

Manhattan Project: National Parks World War II Film Festival on Saturday

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K-25-69 Close up of welding in prefabrecation shop 1944 (bld.300) Photo by Ed Westcott

K-25-69 Close up of welding in prefabrecation shop 1944 (bld.300) Photo by Ed Westcott

 

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park will present films from National Park Service sites that commemorate events and issues related to World War II and the nuclear deterrent used during the Cold War on Saturday, a press release said.

The film festival is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 16, at the American Museum of Science and Energy.

National parks tell the stories of America’s World War II experience—from Pearl Harbor to the war’s atomic end, the press release said.

“The range of our nation’s national parks show how a resilient America mobilized its people to triumph over tyranny, explore places where technological and social barriers collapsed, confront the war’s darker legacies, and stand atop soils where American blood was shed, coastlines defended, and valor was memorialized forever,” the press release said. “Across the nation, national park sites help tell the story of our nation during World War II and help us ensure President Truman’s promise that ‘America will never forget their sacrifices’ will always hold true.”

National Park Service films on March 16, will come from: [Read more…]

Black History Month Kick-Off: ‘A Journey through the World of Art with African-American Artists’

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Black History Month Invitation 2019

The Oak Ridge Chapter of Blacks in Government (BIG), the American Museum of Science and Energy (AMSE), and the U.S. Department of Energy are sponsoring an evening with African-American artists on Friday, February 1, from 6 to 8 p.m., a press release said.

This event will be held at AMSE, which is located at 115 Main Street East in Oak Ridge. This event is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served, the press release said. [Read more…]

Manhattan Project Park staff back at work after government shutdown ends

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The partial government shutdown that started three weeks ago has affected the National Park Service in Oak Ridge. There are no National Park Service staff members or volunteers working at the Park Service desk at the Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, as pictured above on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The partial government shutdown that started Dec. 22, 2018, and ended with a temporary spending measure approved Friday, Jan. 25, 2019, affected the National Park Service in Oak Ridge. During the shutdown, there were no National Park Service staff members or volunteers working at the Park Service desk at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, as pictured above on Friday, Jan. 11, 2019. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Federal employees of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge, are back at work after the partial government shutdown ended Friday.

The shutdown started Saturday, December 22, and it lasted 35 days. It was the longest government shutdown ever.

During the shutdown, there were no National Park Service staff members or volunteers working at the Park Service desk at the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge. The National Park Service did not monitor or update social media and websites during the shutdown, and it did not provide visitor services at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, including public information. Also, all park programs were canceled.

The Manhattan Project National Historical Park said its staff resumed regular operations on Sunday after Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed a short-term continuing resolution that re-opened the government for three weeks. [Read more…]

Director of National Museum of Nuclear Science & History to speak in Oak Ridge

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Jim Walther (Photo courtesy ORHPA)

Jim Walther (Photo courtesy ORHPA)

 

The director of the National Museum of Nuclear Science and History in New Mexico will speak in Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

The talk by the director, Jim Walther, is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. Tuesday, January, 22, at the American Museum of Science and Energy, which relocated to renovated space near JCPenney at Main Street Oak Ridge in October.

The talk is hosted by the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association and AMSE.

“Make your plans now to attend this exceptional event,” a press release said. “The evening public forum meeting is free, and the public is encouraged to attend. Jim Walther will provide unique museum insights to help us learn more about the opportunities that may be available to Oak Ridge and our museums from an experienced museum professional of 39 years. [Read more…]

Council to discuss next steps for Main Street Oak Ridge on Tuesday

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Most of Main Street Oak Ridge is pictured above in this proposed plan from Nov. 29, 2018.

Most of Main Street Oak Ridge is pictured above in this proposed plan from Nov. 29, 2018.

 

After they rejected a revised plan for the project on Monday, the Oak Ridge City Council will discuss next steps for Main Street Oak Ridge on Tuesday.

It wasn’t clear this week what might happen next.

The revised plan that City Council rejected in a 4-3 vote on Monday would have allowed four national retailers to build stores at Main Street Oak Ridge. It would have required the closure of the access road from Rutgers Avenue to the roundabout at Main Street, allowing the four stores to be built along a sidewalk between JCPenney and PetSmart. It would have removed the 230 or so multi-family residential units that had been proposed by Crosland Southeast, the original developer, in the area between JCPenney and Walmart. And it would have moved the proposed mixed-use development to a future phase along Wilson Street.

This past Tuesday, after Council rejected the revised plan, three people involved in the project, including RealtyLink, the current developer, said there is no other design, no “plan B.” [Read more…]

Council approves plan for apartments at former AMSE site

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The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission will consider a rezoning and planned unit development on Thursday, Dec. 20, 2018, that would allow apartments to be built on the former American Museum of Science and Energy property on South Tulane Avenue.

The Oak Ridge City Council approved a rezoning and planned unit development on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, that would allow apartments to be built on the former American Museum of Science and Energy property on South Tulane Avenue.

 

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday approved a plan that would allow apartments at the former American Museum of Science and Energy site on South Tulane Avenue.

The apartment proposal requires a rezoning and the approval of a plan for a planned unit development, or PUD.

They were approved in a 5-1-1 vote in the first of two readings on Monday. The second and final reading will presumably be in February.

Voting for the plan were Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch and City Council members Kelly Callison, Jim Dodson, Derrick Hammond, and Ellen Smith. [Read more…]

Council rejects revised plan for Main Street Oak Ridge

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Most of Main Street Oak Ridge is pictured above in this proposed plan from Nov. 29, 2018.

Most of Main Street Oak Ridge is pictured above in this proposed revised plan from Nov. 29, 2018.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 1 a.m.

The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday narrowly rejected a revised plan that would have allowed four national retailers to build stores at Main Street Oak Ridge.

The Council had unanimously approved a revised plan for Main Street Oak Ridge, subject to certain conditions, in December. That was the first of two readings.

But Council rejected the plan in a 4-3 vote in the second and final reading on Monday.

The rejection hinged on concerns that included the closure of an access road to the 58-acre site, the movement of mixed-use areas to a future phase along Wilson Street, and questions about whether there are other site plan options and whether the development would or should establish a “city center.” People who rejected the revised plan or asked Council to reject it said they support the development and want continued negotiations with RealtyLink, the developer. But it wasn’t immediately clear this week if that will happen.

Those who had supported the revised plan, on the other hand, warned that rejecting it could affect funding for Oak Ridge and Anderson County governments and school systems by diminishing expected sales and property tax revenues, possibly in the range of several hundred thousand dollars. They worried about the impact on the city’s retail community, property tax values, and new housing developments. They called the project a “once in a generation” opportunity and said it could be a few decades before another similar proposal emerges.

It’s not clear what will happen next or if there is any solution that will be acceptable to both RealtyLink and the planning commissioners and City Council members who opposed the revised plan. On Tuesday, three people involved in the project, including RealtyLink, said there is no other design, no “plan B.”

“We’ve worked for six months to get to where we are,” said Neil Wilson, principal of RealtyLink in Greenville, South Carolina. “We didn’t get what we wanted, and they didn’t get what they wanted.”

He said the four national tenants were notified Tuesday that Council rejected the proposed changes to the planned unit development for Main Street Oak Ridge. The potential tenants will be notified if something changes. [Read more…]

Council to consider Main Street, apartment plans

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The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will consider changes to the plan for Main Street Oak Ridge and a plan that would allow apartments at the former American Museum of Science and Energy site on South Tulane Avenue.

The meeting will start at 7 p.m. Monday, January 14, in the Oak Ridge Municipal Building Courtroom. You can see the agenda here.

The changes to the Main Street Oak Ridge plan are being considered as RealtyLink, the developer, prepares to welcome a second wave of tenants to the 58-acre site. Council approved changes on first reading in December and will consider them on second and final reading tonight (Monday, January 14).

The apartment proposal requires a rezoning and the approval of a planned unit development plan.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

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