Oak Ridge Today

National Park Service asks for public comments about Manhattan Project Park

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An undated aerial photo posted online by the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management shows the former K-25 Building, once the world’s largest building, in west Oak Ridge. The building has been demolished, but its history is being preserved, including at the new K-25 History Center.

The National Park Service is asking for public comments about the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The comments are being sought as the Park Service prepares an interpretive plan for park programming, exhibits, and media, a press release said. The goal is to capture many different experiences and perspectives.

Discussions with the public are being organized by theme and region. The discussions focused on regions concentrate on the areas around the three Manhattan Project park locations: Hanford, Washington; Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Because of COVID-19, all events will be held virtually (online), the press release said.

The public meetings are Tuesday to Thursday this week. Here is the schedule:

[Read more…]

Thursday night’s Bull Run meeting canceled due to flooding

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The Tennessee Valley Authority’s Bull Run Fossil Plant is pictured above in Claxton on Monday, Aug. 27, 2018. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The fifth Bull Run community meeting that had been scheduled for tonight (Thursday, February 6) has been canceled because Claxton Elementary School is closed due to flooding.

The meeting had earlier been scheduled for Thursday, January 30, but that meeting was postponed one week (to today, February 6) because of illnesses that led to the two-day closure of Anderson County Schools.

[Read more…]

Community meeting to discuss Bull Run closure on Tuesday

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Copy of Claxton Community Meeting

There will be a community meeting in Claxton on Tuesday evening to discuss the closure of the Bull Run Fossil Plant. The Tennessee Valley Authority board of directors agreed in February to close the coal-burning plant by 2023.

The meeting is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, in the Claxton Community Center at 1071 Edgemoor Road. It will include Statewide Organizing for Community eMpowerment (SOCM) and nonprofit partners, a press release said.

“The meeting’s purpose is to give concerned residents of the community around TVA’s Bull Run Fossil Plant an opportunity to connect and to share their concerns, hopes, and questions around TVA’s recent decision to retire the Bull Run coal plant by 2023 or sooner,” the press release said. “Now is the time to begin a dialog to protect our community’s common interests.”

Organizers said they are urging environmental engineers, scientists, community leaders, officials from Anderson County, the cities of Oak Ridge and Clinton, Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, and others to be available to share information and expertise, provide support, and address residents’ questions on coal ash, air pollution, health, worker transition, economic impacts, safe demolition and site reclamation, future site use, and property values. [Read more…]

Community meeting on May 25 to discuss new Oak Ridge Preschool

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The new preschool could be located at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge or Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, and the city's school board expects to recommend one of the two sites on Monday, Feb. 27, a school official said Friday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Plans call for the new Oak Ridge Preschool to be located at Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Oak Ridge City Council voted during a special-called meeting on March 27 to select the Scarboro Park site as the location for a new Oak Ridge Preschool. As part of the ongoing dialogue with the community about this future facility, city leaders will host another public forum-style meeting at the Scarboro Community Center on Thursday, May 25, from 6 to 8 p.m., a press release said.

Two previous community meetings were held at the same venue, one on March 23 and another on April 20, to discuss the preschool. Members of the community who attended those meetings were able to see preliminary concepts, ask questions, and provide input on decisions, the press release said.

The City of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools have been working to choose a site for the new preschool for about two years. Once the building is complete, the preschool will relocate from the school administration building on New York Avenue. Members of a committee formed to recommend possible sites looked at city-owned properties and a multitude of factors that would impact future students, their families, and the community as a whole, the press release said. Scarboro Park, the site ultimately selected by City Council and the Board of Education, is across the street from the Scarboro Community Center on Carver Avenue. [Read more…]

Community meeting to discuss new preschool in Scarboro on April 20

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The new preschool could be located at Elm Grove Park in east Oak Ridge or Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge, pictured above on Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, and the city's school board expects to recommend one of the two sites on Monday, Feb. 27, a school official said Friday. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The new Oak Ridge Preschool is expected to be located at Scarboro Park in central Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

There will be a community meeting in Scarboro on Thursday, April 20, to discuss the plan to build the new Oak Ridge Preschool at Scarboro Park.

There was some opposition from Scarboro residents and former residents, as well as requests for more discussion before a vote, during a special Oak Ridge City Council meeting on March 27. But the City Council voted 5-1 during that meeting to select Scarboro Park for the preschool.

City officials said they want to continue to discuss the project with the community.

The April 20 meeting is like a public forum, and it is scheduled from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Scarboro Community Center. It’s part of the ongoing dialogue with the community, a city press release said.

A previous community meeting was held at the same venue on March 23 to discuss the site selection for the preschool. [Read more…]

County mayor to host community forum on broadband Internet access

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Anderson County Terry Frank and Steve Heatherly

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank, left, and Steve Heatherly, co-chairman of the Rural 6 organization’s Community/Government Relations Council, look over a map of Anderson County. (Photo courtesy Anderson County Government)

 

Anderson County Mayor Terry Frank will host a community meeting to organize efforts to bring broadband Internet access to unserved areas in Anderson County.

The community meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 23, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the Community Room at the Norris Community Building, located at 20 Chestnut Drive.

“As mayor, I want to continue to work on efforts to see people in our communities have access to the Internet,” Frank said in a press release. “Expanding access will expand educational opportunities and resources, will help attract more families to choose Anderson County as a place to live, and will increase our economic opportunities. [Read more…]

Community considers future of AMSE as Congress debates Manhattan Project park

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David Moore and Mark Watson

During Thursday’s community meeting at AMSE, David Moore, left, said a few words about his background after being introduced by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, right. (Photos by Sara Wise)

 

The American Museum of Science and Energy Foundation teamed up with the City of Oak Ridge on Thursday to host the first of four community meetings meant to allow the community to have some input into the future of the museum, and how it might fit into the proposed Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

The first meeting was at the museum on Thursday night. It began with presentations that focused on providing information to help audience members make informed suggestions about the museum.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory Communication Director David Keim was among those who made presentations. He said that the museum attracted 71,500 visitors in 2013 and received $1.6 million in federal funding.

Keim explained why AMSE’s contract with Enterprise Advisory Services Inc. was allowed to run out June 30. [Read more…]

City, AMSE Foundation have community meeting on museum Thursday

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AMSE Sign

The American Museum of Science and Energy is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. (Photo by Sara Wise)

The City of Oak Ridge and the American Museum of Science and Energy Foundation are sponsoring a community meeting on Thursday that will include discussions of ways to strengthen the museum as a community and regional asset and destination attraction.

The meeting will also include an information session on current museum operations and the role of the AMSE Foundation. New AMSE Director David Moore will be at the meeting.

The meeting is scheduled from 6-8 p.m. Thursday at the museum, which is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. Registration and light refreshments will be available beginning at 5:30 p.m., a press release said.

In a press release, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said it’s the right time to get the community involved in a dialogue about the museum. [Read more…]