Rick Perry
Energy Secretary Rick Perry is coming to Oak Ridge on Monday at the invitation of U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander, a Tennessee Republican.
U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Republican whose district includes Oak Ridge, will also attend.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Perry, a former Texas governor, as the 14th United States energy secretary on March 2. (You can see his biography here.) This will be his first trip to Oak Ridge. [Read more…]
An agreement signed Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, by the U.S. Department of Energy and City of Oak Ridge calls for the American Museum of Science and Energy missions to be relocated within about one year to 18,000 square feet of space in a two-story building that once housed a Sears Roebuck store next to JCPenney at Main Street Oak Ridge. It’s not yet clear if the National Park Service, which has shared space with AMSE, will also move into this building. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
It’s not clear yet where the National Park Service will go when the American Museum of Science and Energy building closes at the end of the year, but a federal official said the Park Service will stay in Oak Ridge.
It could relocate to a two-story building that once housed Sears Roebuck at Main Street Oak Ridge, the former Oak Ridge Mall. That’s where the U.S. Department of Energy’s public education and outreach missions, now housed at the American Museum of Science and Energy, are moving.
But the National Park Service hadn’t committed to moving there as of April 17, said Niki Nicholas, site manager of the Oak Ridge unit of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The NPS needs more information, Nicholas said in response to questions after a Monday afternoon presentation to AAUW, or American Association of University Women. (A reader had told Oak Ridge Today of an April 17 letter reportedly sent from the Manhattan Project National Historical Park to federal officials at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which manages AMSE.)
Nicholas said the National Park Service has several options in Oak Ridge, including Main Street Oak Ridge. But she declined to elaborate on the precise number of options, where they might be, or what organizations or businesses might be co-located in those buildings. [Read more…]
The public is invited to the 2017 Congressional Art Competition Awards Ceremony on Sunday, April 30, at Roane State Community College’s Oak Ridge campus.
The Art Competition for students in Tennessee’s 3rd Congressional District, represented by Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, is held annually to recognize the artistic talents of high school students.
The Awards Ceremony will be held from 1:30-3 p.m. in the City Room of the Coffey-McNally Building. Visitors are welcome to view the artwork, which is on display on campus, located at 701 Briarcliff Avenue in Oak Ridge. Seating for the Awards Ceremony is limited.
The main goal of the art competition is to support and foster creativity among America’s youth. The winner of the art competition will have their artwork displayed in the U.S. Capitol for one year. Also, the winner will be awarded a trip to Washington, D.C., to attend a reception and see their artwork hung inside the U.S. Capitol, a press release said.
This press release was submitted by Owen Driskill.
Randy McNally (Submitted photo)
Fleischmann, Haslam plan to attend
The Anderson County Republican Party will honor Randy McNally, Tennessee’s new lieutenant governor, at this year’s Reagan Day dinner. The dinner will be held at the Double Tree Hotel in Oak Ridge on Friday, February 10. It will start at 6:30 p.m.
On January 10, McNally was selected as the 87th speaker of the Tennessee Senate, a position that also makes him the state’s lieutenant governor.
“It’s a great honor for East Tennessee to furnish the next lieutenant governor,” said William Jones, chair of the Anderson County Republican Party. “Randy is certainly the perfect choice. He is a thoughtful, dedicated leader who has given many years of public service to the Volunteer State.” [Read more…]
The U.S. Department of Energy and City of Oak Ridge had a signing ceremony Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, at Pollard Technology Conference Center for the transfer of the roughly 17-acre American Museum of Science and Energy site. Pictured above at center is U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz. Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch is at right, and U.S. Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, an Ooltewah Republican, is at left. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The U.S. Department of Energy and City of Oak Ridge had a signing ceremony Friday for the transfer of the roughly 17-acre American Museum of Science and Energy site. The property will be transferred from DOE to the city, and then to a company affiliated with RealtyLink, the developer of Main Street Oak Ridge at the former Oak Ridge Mall. Within about a year, AMSE will move to a two-story building that once housed a Sears store next to JCPenney at the former mall site. The AMSE site could be developed and the museum building demolished.
Here are photos from the Friday signing ceremony and of the AMSE property and the museum’s future home.
See a story from the signing ceremony here. [Read more…]
The American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Note: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. Jan. 3.
With a property transfer agreement signed, new businesses could be built on the 17 acres that now house the American Museum of Science and Energy, the museum will be relocated, and the AMSE building could be demolished, officials and a business executive said Friday.
The changes are allowed under an agreement approved by federal officials, unanimously approved by the Oak Ridge City Council in December, and signed by U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch in a Friday morning ceremony at Oak Ridge Associated Universities.
The U.S. Department of Energy said the transfer of the museum property, owned by the federal government, will allow the City of Oak Ridge to “explore future innovative development and economic stimulus opportunities.”
“From the Manhattan Project of World War II to the cutting-edge materials research of today, Oak Ridge has long played a vital role in American science and security,” Moniz said. “This agreement will ensure that Oak Ridge’s history is preserved and shared while providing the city a new opportunity to create jobs and strengthen the local economy.”
When the transfer is completed, DOE public outreach and education missions that are now conducted at AMSE and focused on Oak Ridge history, science, and national security will continue in renovated space in a two-story building that once housed a Sears store next to JCPenney at the former Oak Ridge Mall. The former mall is being redeveloped as Main Street Oak Ridge.
DOE said the AMSE property transfer will save more than $2 million in deferred maintenance costs at the museum and greatly reduce operating expenses. [Read more…]
Ernest Moniz
Note: This story was last updated at 12:10 p.m.
U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz will attend the land transfer ceremony for the American Museum of Science and Energy property in Oak Ridge next week.
The ceremony is scheduled for Friday, December 30. Also expected to attend are U.S. Congressman Chuck Fleischmann and City of Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch.
It’s a signing ceremony to formally transfer the roughly 17-acre AMSE site from the U.S. Department of Energy to the City of Oak Ridge.
Under an agreement unanimously approved by Oak Ridge City Council on December 13, the city is then expected to transfer the property in two phases to a company set up by RealtyLink, the South Carolina firm building Main Street Oak Ridge at the site of the former Oak Ridge Mall. [Read more…]
Tennessee Senator and Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, left, presents a Muddy Boot Award to U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann, a Tennessee Republican, at an East Tennessee Economic Council meeting on Friday, Dec. 9, 2016. (DOE photo by Lynn Freeny)
Businessmen Mike Belbeck and Mike Pasqua and U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann were honored Friday with Muddy Boot Awards. The awards from the East Tennessee Economic Council, or ETEC, pay tribute to people who, through their work and activities, build a better community.
Pasqua helped found and grow SAIC’s Oak Ridge offices and later led the transition to Leidos, a press release said. Belbeck is executive vice president for operations of Covenant Health and active in numerous organizations across the region, the release said.
Covenant Health’s Jan McNally, who recruited Belbeck to be her successor as administrator of Methodist Medical Center of Oak Ridge, presented his award, and Sherry Browder, current chair of ETEC and a former colleague of Pasqua at SAIC, presented that Boot.
Fleischmann returned from Washington to receive his Muddy Boot Award, which was presented by incoming Tennessee Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally, the press release said.
The Council’s Pat Postma also presented the Postma Young Professional Medal to Wade Creswell, chief executive officer of The Roane Alliance. [Read more…]
Protomet Corporation is pictured above in the Bethel Valley Industrial Park in south Oak Ridge on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Jeff Bohanan
Protomet Corporation has purchased about 20 acres of former federal land on Bethel Valley Road in south Oak Ridge, and the company is evaluating that property as one option as it plans for a $30 million expansion that could add 200 jobs over a five-year period.
On Tuesday, Protomet founder and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Bohanan said the company prefers to stay in Oak Ridge, but there is no guarantee. The 19.47-acre parcel on Bethel Valley Road will have to be cut and filled, and drainage will have to be redirected, Bohanan said. It’s not clear yet how much that work might cost.
Protomet needs about 100,000 square feet for its expansion, which was announced in February. Protomet now has 70 workers in a 40,000-square-foot building on eight acres, so the company could more than triple in size.
“The new facility will dramatically increase Protomet’s capacity and capabilities for the customers it serves,” Bohanan said. “We have already started purchasing equipment for the new facility, and some of it is already in use at our current facility.”
Protomet bought the Bethel Valley Road land from the Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board for $103,000 on October 20. The property, which was previously owned by the U.S. Department of Energy, is west of Protomet and east of Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
“This is a big step in our ability to evaluate this site as an option,” Bohanan said. [Read more…]
Roane State Community College has received a $2 million federal grant to support student success initiatives.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Strengthening Institutions grant will fund various projects to help students plan their academic goals and achieve them. The $2,013,554 grant will be distributed over five years, with the first installment of $446,493 this fall.
“My role on the House Appropriations Committee allows me to take an active role in securing funding for vital grants such as this,” said Congressman Chuck Fleischmann. “I’m proud to help support Roane State Community College in their work to prepare students for successful careers.”
Grant-funded initiatives will include the purchase of class scheduling software and the addition of more Success Coaches to work one-on-one with students. [Read more…]
The Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge is pictured above. (File photo courtesy Y-12)
A groundbreaking has been scheduled for Thursday morning for the three-story Construction Support Building for the multi-billion dollar Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12 National Security Complex.
This will be the first construction for the UPF project that starts to change the skyline of the Y-12 National Security Complex, a media advisory said.
It said UPF will be a first-of-its-kind complex that supports enriched uranium operations for Y-12 missions. The National Nuclear Security Administration, or NNSA, is using a “build to budget” strategy and has committed to Congress to provide these facilities by 2025 for no more than $6.5 billion, the advisory said.
“As one of the largest construction projects in Tennessee history, UPF will have a significant impact on local and state economies, the advisory said.
Those expected to participate in the Thursday groundbreaking are NNSA Administrator General Frank Klotz, Congressman Jim Cooper, Congressman Chuck Fleischmann, Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Nashville District Commander and District Engineer LTC Stephen Murphy, and UPF Federal Project Director Dale Christenson. [Read more…]
TVA’s Norris Dam was named to the National Register of Historic Places—just in time for the 80th anniversary of the day the dam began operations. TVA celebrated July 28-30, 2016. Norris is the first TVA-built dam to achieve this honor, which was presented to TVA historian Pat Ezzell, left, by U. S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann at a special dinner held at the dam on Thursday, July 28, 2016. (Photo by Tennessee Valley Authority)
By Tennessee Valley Authority
One of East Tennessee’s most iconic energy sources, and a popular tourist and recreation destination, is officially now a protected American historic resource.
The National Park Service has added majestic Norris Dam, which extends 1,860 feet across the Clinch River in East Tennessee, to the National Register of Historic Places.
U.S. Representative Chuck Fleischmann presented TVA Historian Pat Ezzell the plaque that will be prominently displayed at Norris Dam. Fleischmann bestowed the plaque at a July 28 dinner that celebrated the 80th anniversary of initial operation of TVA’s first hydro project.
Norris Dam is the first TVA dam to receive recognition on the National Registry. It and the nearby town of Norris both are named for George Norris, the Nebraska senator who authored the TVA Act. He also is known as the father of the Tennessee Valley Authority. [Read more…]
