A temporary road closure is planned along part of Nebraska Avenue on Wednesday for the annual “Halloween House” residential attraction, a press release said.
The temporary road closure is scheduled between 5 and 10 p.m. Wednesday, October 31, the City of Oak Ridge press release said.
A large number of visitors is expected at the “Halloween House,” and the closure is necessary to create a safer environment for drivers and pedestrians, the press release said. [Read more…]
Julie Forkner
The City of Oak Ridge has named Julie Forkner as director of the Oak Ridge Public Library. Forkner was hired in 2016 as manager of library operations. She has served as acting library director for the last six months.
“Please join us in congratulating Julie on her new position,” a press release said.
Forkner is a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, receiving her master’s degree in library and information science in 2012. Prior to this, she obtained a master’s degree in English rhetoric and composition from UT-Chattanooga and a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. [Read more…]
A rendering of the new Oak Ridge Preschool at Scarboro Park. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Studio Four Design)
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday unanimously approved an initial bond resolution of up to $16.5 million to build a new Oak Ridge Preschool and Oak Ridge Senior Center, and redevelop Scarboro Park.
It’s not the final bond resolution for the projects. The initial bond resolution approved in a 7-0 vote on Monday sets a ceiling amount for the debt issuance. A second resolution, a bond issuance resolution, will be brought to City Council, possibly at the October 8 meeting, for the actual bond issuance amount.
The City of Oak Ridge has opened the bidding period for the two projects, which have a total estimated cost of roughly $16 million. That announcement was made Friday.
But the city doesn’t know yet what the actual bids will be. And it’s not clear how steel tariffs might affect the projects, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said. [Read more…]
A rendering of the new Oak Ridge Preschool at Scarboro Park. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge/Studio Four Design)
The City of Oak Ridge has opened the bidding period for two major projects: the new Oak Ridge Preschool with Scarboro Park improvements and the new Oak Ridge Senior Center. Interested parties must submit bids before the deadline early next month. Studio Four Design Inc. of Knoxville is the architectural firm chosen to design both buildings.
The new preschool will be a single-story facility of about 33,000 square feet on Carver Avenue. The build site is inside Scarboro Park, a roughly 10-acre parcel, a press release said. The project includes improvements to the adjacent park area such as lighted basketball/tennis courts, a baseball field, a public pavilion, green space, and a walking trail.
The current senior center is temporarily operating out of the Civic Center’s Recreation Building. The new senior center will be built next door, just to the west of the Recreation Center. The single-story, approximately 11,000 square foot facility will overlook part of A.K. Bissell Park. Plans include a large kitchen, craft and exercise rooms, billiards parlor, lounge, and other common space, the press release said. [Read more…]
An image showing what the Oak Ridge Schools Preschool could look like in Scarboro Park. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge and Studio Four Design)
Project could move into bid phase in September
As plans progress for the new Oak Ridge Preschool and Scarboro Park improvements, Oak Ridge municipal leaders will provide an update on the project during a community meeting on Thursday, August 30. The meeting is scheduled from 5:30 to 7 p.m. next Thursday at the Scarboro Community Center. Discussions will focus on recreational amenities in Scarboro Park as well as the current status and next steps for the preschool, a press release said.
WHAT: Community meeting on Scarboro Park and new preschool
WHEN: Thursday, August 30, at 5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Scarboro Community Center, 148 Carver Avenue, Oak Ridge [Read more…]
A fire damaged a home on Gorgas Lane in north Oak Ridge on Monday evening, Aug. 6, 2018. No injuries were reported. (Photo courtesy City of Oak Ridge)
A fire damaged a home in north Oak Ridge on Monday evening. No injuries were reported.
The house fire was reported at about 8:22 p.m. Monday in the 100 block of Gorgas Lane.
When firefighters arrived, they could see flames coming from the rear of the home and the attic, the Oak Ridge Fire Department said in a press release. Firefighters from Engine 2 laid a supply line from the fire hydrant and used two hand lines to quickly extinguish the fire, along with crews from Engines 1 and 3, Tower 10, and Rescue 30, the press release said. [Read more…]
Pictured above during a state grant announcement at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building for national park signs and waterfront improvements on Tuesday, July 31, 2018, are, from left, Dave Jones, East Tennessee division manager of the Tennessee Department of Tourist Development; Amy New, assistant commissioner of community and rural development for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development; Oak Ridge Mayor Warren Gooch; Jody Sliger, community development director for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development; and Marc DeRose, president of Explore Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
A state grant of more than $50,000 that was announced Tuesday will help create interpretive signs for historic sites in Oak Ridge that are related to the Manhattan Project National Historical Park and improve the waterfront for events such as rowing, cycling, and festivals, officials said.
The $56,250 Tourism Enhancement Grant, part of the third round of grants, was announced Tuesday at the Oak Ridge Municipal Building. A few Oak Ridge officials attended, and so did representatives of the Tennessee Department of Tourism Development and Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
“Through this grant, the City of Oak Ridge, in partnership with Explore Oak Ridge, will receive funds to support projects that improve some of the city’s key tourist attractions,” a press release said.
Marc DeRose, president of Explore Oak Ridge, said there are two parts to the grant. One is to enhance the city’s component of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The grant funding could be used to create interpretive signs at historic places like the Guest House and Chapel on the Hill. The interpretive signs will be accessible and include pictures and content, DeRose said. [Read more…]
The site of former Applewood Apartments buildings, which have been demolished, is pictured above at Hillside Road and East Hunter Circle on Wednesday, July 18, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
It’s not clear if it will make much difference now, but a state appeals court has upheld administrative warrants used by the City of Oak Ridge for inspections at Applewood Apartments and a city board order that had once called for vacating and demolishing six of the buildings.
The Tennessee Court of Appeals in Knoxville issued its opinion on Tuesday, July 24.
Joe Levitt, the owner of the former 13-building apartment complex on Hillside Road and Hunter Circle, had appealed a September 2016 order of the Anderson County Chancery Court in Clinton. That court, where M. Nichole Cantrell is chancellor, had granted summary judgement to the City of Oak Ridge, the Oak Ridge Board of Building and Housing Code Appeals, and former codes enforcement supervisor Denny Boss. Levitt, who has battled the city for years, had sought to overturn an Oak Ridge order that the six Applewood Apartment buildings be vacated and demolished.
Inspections conducted with the help of Corum Engineering in 2009 had found multiple code violations and structural deficiencies at the six buildings, including cracks in foundations, damaged and rotten floor joists, and evidence of wood-destroying insect activity, as well as dead animals and animal feces in the basement and crawl space, and excessive debris, lack of smoke detectors, plumbing leaks, and damaged roofing materials, among other issues, according to last week’s opinion. Unless the defects were corrected, the 2009 engineering report said, the top floors of the buildings could collapse because of a lack of structural support, according to the opinion. [Read more…]
The road work on Tennessee Avenue near Methodist Medical Center is expected to continue into the fall, Oak Ridge officials said Friday.
The contractor, Adams and Sons Inc., is rebuilding a portion of Tennessee Avenue beginning east of New York Avenue down to the intersection with Michigan Avenue.
“The Oak Ridge Public Works Department is using this project as an opportunity to replace the existing 1940s-era water main along Tennessee Avenue, in addition to making curb, gutter, and sidewalk repairs,” a City of Oak Ridge press release said.
The new water line is being installed from west to east and the first section has already been placed in service, the press release said. Work has progressed to an area near Methodist Medical Center, which is approximately the halfway point for the water main. [Read more…]
One lane of a short section of Oak Ridge Turnpike will be closed this week.
“Southern Contractors Inc., working under contract to the City of Oak Ridge, will have the outside eastbound lane of Oak Ridge Turnpike from Lafayette Drive to East Division Road closed starting Monday, July 23, at 7 a.m.,” a press release said.
The work is necessary to set new forms along the roadways as part of the Intersection Improvement Project, and it is expected to last until the evening of Wednesday, July 25, the press release said. [Read more…]
Site work is pictured above on Tuesday, July 17, 2018, on the lot where a Tire Discounters will be built along South Illinois Avenue in front of the American Museum of Science and Energy. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
Site work was under way last week for a Tire Discounters on property south of the American Museum of Science and Energy, the first development on any part of the museum site.
There could be other developments later on the southern 7.4 acres of the 19-acre museum site, possibly including a grocery or retail store of about 55,000 square feet and retail or restaurant space. (See here and here.)
The Oak Ridge City Council unanimously approved a rezoning for the 7.4 acres, which will include the Tire Discounters store, in November.
The Oak Ridge Municipal Planning Commission unanimously approved a final master plan for a planned unit development on the property during a special meeting in March. The final master plan was subject to certain conditions. Among them were one requirement to submit a new or revised traffic impact study when the site plan for the grocery store or large “box” store is submitted and one to install sidewalks on the northern boundary of the property. [Read more…]
Blankenship Field and Jack Armstrong Stadium are pictured above on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The renovations at Blankenship Field, including the installation of synthetic turf, won’t start until after this year’s football season ends, officials said Thursday.
At one time, there had been hopes that the renovation work would have started this past January and be finished by this June. Then, after an $800,000 contract was approved in June, there had still been the possibility that the work could be complete this summer, on or around the first home football game in August.
But on Thursday, the City of Oak Ridge announced a decision to wait until the Oak Ridge High School football season is complete to begin the renovations.
“The decision was based on the contractor’s estimate that the project could not be completed without impacting the first three home football games,” a city press release said. [Read more…]
