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Oak Ridge plans a downtown; chalk art on Saturday will promote it

Posted at 5:20 pm May 19, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A view looking south onto West Main Street into a proposed area of restaurants and shops surrounding a landscaped courtyard off Wilson Street. (Image courtesy City of Oak Ridge)

A chalk art event on Saturday will promote a proposal to build a downtown area that could include apartments and condominiums, restaurants and stores, and green space and an outdoor performance space at Wilson Street on the north side of Main Street Oak Ridge.

The chalk art event is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 23. It will feature 15 professional artists, the City of Oak Ridge said in a press release.

It’s called “Paint the Town with Chalk,” and it will help people visualize what the downtown area could be like, the press release said.

Oak Ridge was built to help make the world’s first atomic bombs as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II, and officials say the city was built without a distinct downtown for national security reasons. Now, they are trying to change that.

The goal is to transform the Wilson Street area into the city’s new downtown, according to a presentation last fall by Oak Ridge Community Development Director Wayne Blasius.

The downtown area could include:

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Arts, Business, Business, Entertainment, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Slider Tagged With: downtown, Main Street Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Paint the Town with Chalk, Wayne Blasius, Wilson Street

Mall redevelopment could cost $80 million, create close to 1,000 jobs

Posted at 9:17 am September 25, 2013
By John Huotari 104 Comments

Oak Ridge Mall Master Plan

The site plan for the redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall shows a multi-use, town center development with retail, office, hotel, and residential properties. (Submitted image)

The project could include retail, hotel, office, and residential properties, and generate more than $2 million per year in new city and county sales tax revenues, consultant says

Note: This story was last updated at 2 p.m.

The North Carolina company that wants to redevelop the Oak Ridge Mall has unveiled its site plan for the 60-acre property.

The $80 million redevelopment could include new retail, hotel, office, and residential properties. It would create almost 1,000 new jobs and increase annual city and county sales tax revenues by more than $2 million, according to an estimate by a city consultant.

The two remaining anchor stores at the 500,000-square-foot mall, JCPenney and Belk, would stay. So would Walmart and the Cinemark Tinseltown theater.

Meanwhile, the existing interior space between the anchor stores would be demolished. Previous mall redevelopment plans had also called for demolishing that interior retail space. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Belk, bond resolution, Cinemark Tinseltown, Crosland Southeast, downtown, JCPenney, jobs, mall, mall redevelopment, Oak Ridge City Center LLC, Oak Ridge Industrial Development Board, Oak Ridge Mall, property tax revenues, Ray Evans, redevelopment, sales tax revenues, site plan, tax increment financing, TIF, Tim Sittema, Tom Beehan, town square, Walmart, Woodland Town Center

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Public Notice: Comment period extended for Draft EA for Lithium Processing Facility at Y-12

EXTENSION OF THE COMMENT PERIOD FOR THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING … [Read More...]

Public Notice: Draft Environmental Assessment Available for Lithium Production Facility at Y-12

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE LITHIUM PROCESSING FACILITY AT THE Y-12 … [Read More...]

Availability of the Final Environmental Assessment for the Oak Ridge Enhanced Technology and Training Center (ORETTC) (DOE/EA-2144), Finding of No Significant Impact, and Wetland Statement of Findings

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