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Spotlight: Picture of Turnpike, Illinois Avenue shopping area in 1944

Posted at 10:30 pm July 14, 2014
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike Shopping Area

The shopping area at Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike, where the new Kroger Marketplace is now, is pictured above in 1944. (U.S. Department of Energy photo by Ed Westcott)

 

The shopping center at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue where the new Kroger Marketplace is now was previously home to a shopping area.

Here is a picture of that area taken by Ed Westcott in 1944. Westcott was the official government photographer here during the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II, when Oak Ridge was built to help enrich uranium for the world’s first atomic weapons.

The photo is on the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office page on Flickr.

The new Kroger store, which replaced a few businesses and a small neighborhood, is the company’s fifth in Oak Ridge, and it opened a few weeks ago. The new shopping center has been named the Westcott Center in honor of Westcott.

Note: Thanks to Ginny Boeing Manning at RSI for bringing this photo to our attention.

Filed Under: Honors and Spotlight, Media, Photos, Uncategorized Tagged With: Ed Westcott, Illinois Avenue, Kroger, Kroger Marketplace, Oak Ridge Turnpike, shopping area, shopping center, U.S. Department of Energy, Westcott Center

Parents protest expanded 1.5-mile walk zone for students

Posted at 1:34 pm July 11, 2014
By John Huotari 12 Comments

Oak Ridge School Buses at the Central Services Complex

Parents are protesting a June 23 decision to expand the walk zone for students to 1.5 miles to help reduce a $1.25 million budget deficit. The expanded walk zones mean that bus service won’t be offered to students who live within 1.5 miles of Oak Ridge schools.

 

Note: This story was last updated at 9:20 a.m. July 12.

Parents concerned about student safety are protesting a recent decision by Oak Ridge Schools to expand the student walk zone to 1.5 miles.

In the past two days, they’ve started a petition and Facebook group to oppose the June 23 decision, and they’ve organized a protest, rally, and walks through the expanded walk zones at several schools.

“We’re serious about this,” said Daniel Morgan, who has two sons at Linden Elementary School and a daughter who starts at Robertsville Middle School this fall. “The citizens are concerned about the safety of the children.”

The expanded walk zones mean that bus service will no longer be available to students who live within 1.5 miles of Oak Ridge schools. The change could affect 1,800 students. The new bus stops have been posted on the Oak Ridge Schools website. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Education, Education, K-12, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Ashley Paine, bus service, Change.org, Daniel Morgan, Facebook, Illinois Avenue, Laurie Paine-Feeny, Linden Elementary School, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge Preschool, Oak Ridge Schools, Oak Ridge Turnpike, parents, petition, protest, rally, Robertsville Middle School, STOP Oak Ridge Walk Zone, student walk zone, walk zones, Willow Brook Elementary School

New Kroger Marketplace largest in Knoxville, Nashville area

Posted at 12:36 pm June 30, 2014
By John Huotari 2 Comments

Kroger Marketplace Grand Opening

The grand opening of the Kroger Marketplace in Oak Ridge was Sunday morning. The new 124,000-square-foot store is the largest in Tennessee in the Knoxville and Nashville area. Pictured at center is Store Manager Marty Irwin. To the right of her is Ed Westcott, the official U.S. government photographer in Oak Ridge during the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. The new shopping center is named the Westcott Center in honor of him.

 

The Kroger Marketplace that opened in Oak Ridge on Sunday is the company’s largest store in the Knoxville and Nashville area, executives said. It’s the third Kroger Marketplace in the Knoxville area.

The 124,000-square-foot store is at the corner of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. It’s the company’s fifth store in Oak Ridge, and it’s in a new shopping center named the Westcott Center in honor of Ed Westcott, the official U.S. government photographer here during the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II.

Kroger said the new store created 270 jobs and will employ a total of 375 workers, including those moving from the previous store on South Illinois Avenue.

The new grocery store features larger bakery, dairy, deli, meat, and seafood sections, as well as a produce section that includes organic and local produce. There are 22 check-out registers and more than 46 aisles. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Oak Ridge, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Baby World, Bistro, Ed Westcott, Fred Meyer Jewelers, grand opening, grocery store, Illinois Avenue, jobs, Kroger Fuel Center, Kroger Marketplace, Little Clinic, Marty Irwin, Murray's Cheese Shoppe, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Turnpike, Phillip Fulmer, Starbucks, SunTrust Bank, Sushi, Westcott Center

Kroger Marketplace to open June 29

Posted at 6:00 pm June 7, 2014
By John Huotari 6 Comments

Kroger Marketplace Storefront

The storefront of the Kroger Marketplace, which is under construction at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. The new store is expected to open June 29.

 

The Kroger Marketplace is expected to open June 29.

The new, larger Kroger store is under construction at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. Among other things, it will include a pharmacy, Little Clinic, Starbucks Coffee, Fred Meyer Jewelry, Sun Trust Bank, and fuel center.

The older, smaller Kroger store a few miles away on South Illinois Avenue will shut down after the Kroger Marketplace opens. The new 123,000-square-foot store is in a $33 million shopping center that is still under construction. The 25-acre site has been named the Westcott Center in honor of Ed Westcott, the official government photographer in Oak Ridge during the top-secret Manhattan Project in World War II. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Oak Ridge, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: Ed Westcott, Fred Meyer jewelry, fuel center, Illinois Avenue, Kroger, Kroger Marketplace, Little Clinic, Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, shopping center, Starbucks Coffee, Sun Trust Bank, Westcott Center

Blasting continues at Kroger Marketplace site on Monday

Posted at 2:48 pm November 22, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff 5 Comments

Kroger Marketplace Site Plan

Kroger Marketplace Site Plan

Blasting at the Kroger Marketplace construction site is scheduled to continue at 2 p.m. Monday.

Police officers will stop traffic on Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike for the duration of the blast, which will be about three to five minutes, a press release said.

During the blasting, Illinois Avenue traffic will be blocked from Robertsville Road to Oak Ridge Turnpike, and Oak Ridge Turnpike traffic will be blocked from the Illinois-Turnpike intersection east to Robertsville Road. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Front Page News, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire Tagged With: blasting, construction, Illinois Avenue, Kroger, Kroger Marketplace, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oak Ridge Turnpike, Robertsville Road

More blasting at Kroger Marketplace site on Friday, Monday

Posted at 9:57 pm November 14, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Kroger Marketplace Building Construction

More blasting at the Kroger Marketplace shopping center site is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday and Monday. Police officers will stop traffic on Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike for about three to five minutes during the blasts.

More blasting at the Kroger Marketplace shopping center site is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday and Monday.

Police officers will stop traffic on Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike for about three to five minutes during the blasts.

During the blasting, Illinois Avenue traffic will be blocked from Robertsville Road to Oak Ridge Turnpike, and Oak Ridge Turnpike traffic will be blocked from the Illinois/Turnpike intersection east to Robertsville Road.

There was also blasting at the site in October. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: blasting, Illinois Avenue, Kroger Marketplace, Oak Ridge Turnpike, shopping center

Blasting at Kroger Marketplace site continues Monday, Thursday

Posted at 10:30 pm October 10, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Kroger Marketplace Building Construction

Building construction has started at the new Kroger Marketplace shopping center, and blasting at the site is scheduled to continue next week.

Building construction has started at the new Kroger Marketplace shopping center, and blasting at the site is scheduled to continue next week.

The blasting started this week in short sessions that lasted a few minutes each on Monday and Thursday afternoons.

The blasting is expected to continue next week at 2 p.m. Monday and Thursday, a city press release said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: blasting, construction, construction site, Illinois Avenue, Kroger, Kroger Marketplace, Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oak Ridge Turnpike

Blasting scheduled Monday, Thursday at Kroger construction site

Posted at 3:50 pm October 4, 2013
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Kroger Marketplace Site Work

Blasting is scheduled at the Kroger Marketplace construction site at Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike on Monday and Thursday afternoon. Pictured above is site work that started this summer.

Blasting is scheduled at the Kroger Marketplace construction site at 2 p.m. Monday, Oct. 7, and Thursday, Oct. 10. Oak Ridge Police Department officers will stop traffic on Illinois Avenue and Oak Ridge Turnpike during the blasting, which is scheduled to last about three to five minutes, a press release said.

Illinois Avenue traffic will be blocked from Robertsville Road to Oak Ridge Turnpike, and the Turnpike will be blocked from the Illinois Avenue/Turnpike intersection east to Robertsville Road, the release said.

Oak Ridge Fire Department Chief Darryl Kerley will send two advisement/informational calls to the businesses and residents in the area on Saturday, Oct. 5, and Tuesday, Oct. 8, the press release said. For more information, visit the city’s website at www.oakridgetn.gov.

Filed Under: Business, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: blasting, construction, Illinois Avenue, Kroger Marketplace, Oak Ridge Fire Department, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oak Ridge Turnpike

Kroger Marketplace will be company’s fifth Oak Ridge store, could add 165 jobs

Posted at 6:54 pm August 22, 2013
By John Huotari 16 Comments

Kroger Marketplace Groundbreaking Ceremony

The new Kroger Marketplace will be the company’s fifth store in Oak Ridge, and it could add more than 165 jobs, executives said during a Thursday morning groundbreaking ceremony.

The new Kroger Marketplace shopping center scheduled to open next summer will be the company’s fifth store in Oak Ridge, and it could add more than 165 jobs, providing a “tipping point” for economic development, officials said Thursday.

It’s the largest in a series of retail construction projects now under way, including on Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. It could be joined soon by the redevelopment of the Oak Ridge Mall.

“We are putting together the future attributes of growth,” Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan said during a Thursday morning groundbreaking ceremony near the Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: Bobby Capers, Don Hunnicutt, Ed Westcott, Illinois Avenue, James Edward Westcott, Kroger Marketplace, Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge Unitarian Universalist Church, shopping center, Tim Coggins, Tom Beehan

Kroger Marketplace has Aug. 22 groundbreaking ceremony

Posted at 3:20 pm August 19, 2013
By John Huotari 6 Comments

Kroger Marketplace Land Clearing

The Kroger Co. will have an Aug. 22 groundbreaking ceremony for a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center on 25 acres at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue.

The Kroger Co. announced Monday that it will have a Thursday morning groundbreaking ceremony for its new Marketplace store in Oak Ridge.

Demolition and land clearing work is already under way at the 25-acre site northeast of the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue, and a Kroger spokesman has said building construction at the shopping center could start in October.

The groundbreaking on Thursday, Aug. 22, will be at 10 a.m. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Oak Ridge, Top Stories Tagged With: construction, groundbreaking, Illinois Avenue, James Edward Westcott, Kroger Co., Kroger Marketplace, Oak Ridge Turnpike, shopping center, Westcott Center

Pictures: Land being cleared quickly, hotels demolished at Kroger Marketplace site

Posted at 10:24 am August 14, 2013
By John Huotari 3 Comments

Kroger Marketplace Land Clearing

Now that the project has received final approval, crews are working quickly to finish demolishing and cleaning up hotels and homes, remove trees, and clear land at the 25-acre site of a Kroger Marketplace shopping center northeast of the intersection of Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue. The former Robin Lane is in the center of the picture.

Now that the project has received final approval, crews are working quickly to finish demolishing hotels and homes, clean up debris, remove trees, and clear land for a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center at one of the city’s busiest intersections.

Building construction could start in early October, and there could be some blasting at the 25-acre site starting at 2 p.m. Friday.

The $30 million shopping center will be named the Westcott Center in honor of renowned photographer James Edward Westcott, and it is scheduled to open in August 2014. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Oak Ridge, Photos, Top Stories Tagged With: construction, demolition, Illinois Avenue, Kroger Marketplace, Oak Ridge Turnpike, shopping center, Westcott Center

Blasting begins next week at construction site for Kroger Marketplace

Posted at 10:28 am August 8, 2013
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Kroger Marketplace Hotels

The former Super 8 motel that is expected to be demolished to make way for a new Kroger Marketplace shopping center at Oak Ridge Turnpike and Illinois Avenue.

Blasting at the construction site for the Kroger Marketplace shopping center will begin next week, Oak Ridge officials announced Thursday.

“All blasting will happen at 2 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays,” a city press release said. “Depending on the location of the blast, there may be temporary road closures in the area.”

The release said a blast survey was performed. “No collateral damage has been predicted,” it said. “The explosions may be heard and felt. During the blasts, it is not necessary to contact emergency dispatch services, unless an emergency has occurred. The City of Oak Ridge Fire and Police will be present for the blasting.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Police and Fire, Top Stories Tagged With: blasting, construction, Illinois Avenue, Kroger Marketplace, Oak Ridge Turnpike, shopping center

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Classifieds

Availability of the draft environmental assessment for off-site depleted uranium manufacturing (DOE/EA-2252)

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announces the … [Read More...]

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

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