Oak Ridge Today

Council accepts $480,000 grant for railway museum at K-25

Posted at
By 2 Comments

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum Building

A plan for the proposed Southern Appalachia Railway Museum at Heritage Center, the former K-25 site. (Submitted image)

Although they had concerns about potential worst-case scenarios, Oak Ridge City Council members on Monday unanimously agreed to accept a state grant worth up to $480,000 for construction of a railway museum at Heritage Center, a project first proposed more than a decade ago.

By approving the resolution, Council also authorized the city to enter into a construction management agreement with the Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee and Heritage Center LLC. That agreement calls for CROET and Heritage to offer the 20 percent local match required under the grant, or $120,000, as well as associated construction management services.

[Read more…]

CROET moves headquarters to Commerce Park

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

The Community Reuse Organization of East Tennessee is moving its headquarters across town to the Commerce Park, where the economic development organization will share a building with Tech 20/20.

CROET has been located at the U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office building complex on Laboratory Road for years, and Tech 20/20 has had its headquarters at 1020 Commerce Drive.

In a press release, John Morris, Tech 20/20 president and chief executive officer, said the collaboration between the two economic development organizations brings his career “full circle.”

“In 1996, CROET helped launch one of my start-up companies, Net Learning, with a $100,000 seed loan that served as a catalyst to launch the business,” Morris said. “They were there when we could not get traditional funding, and now I’m excited to have the opportunity to continue to strengthen the partnership between Tech 20/20 and CROET. By being co-located, we will build upon the great relationships we’ve had for years to leverage opportunities and help other businesses and start-ups in non-traditional ways.”

The press release said the partnership between CROET and Tech 20/20 has played a key role in economic development in Oak Ridge, with projects including the Center for Entrepreneurial Growth’s accelerator fund and the Halcyon Commercialization Center at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

[Read more…]