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Contract awarded for K-25 Viewing Platform

Posted at 1:17 pm April 9, 2023
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

Artist rendering of the exterior of the new Viewing Platform, which will be located next to the recently constructed K-25 History Center overlooking the footprint of the K-25 Building. (Artist renderings by Smee + Busby Architects)

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded Geiger Brothers a $9.9 million contract to build the K-25 Viewing Platform at the East Tennessee Technology Park in Oak Ridge. The Viewing Platform will help commemorate what was once the world’s largest building and part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. The site enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants through the Cold War.

The K-25 Viewing Platform will be next to the K-25 History Center, which opened about three years ago. It will give visitors a complete view of the former building’s massive 44-acre footprint.

While the K-25 History Center focuses on the men and women who built and operated the Oak Ridge Diffusion Plant during the Manhattan Project and Cold War, this facility will help visitors understand the scope and magnitude of the former K-25 Building, a press release said.

The U-shaped K-25 Building was a mile long. It was demolished in 2013.

Construction on the Viewing Platform is scheduled to begin in May 2023, and it is expected to be complete in late 2024, the press release said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, History, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Cold War, East Tennessee Technology Park, Geiger Brothers, Jay Mullis, Joseph Sahl, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, K-25 Viewing Platform, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, United Cleanup Oak Ridge, uranium enrichment, USACE, World War II

DOE bus tours restart in Oak Ridge

Posted at 2:29 pm July 19, 2022
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

U.S. Department of Energy public bus tours have resumed in Oak Ridge after a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo from DOE)

U.S. Department of Energy public bus tours have resumed in Oak Ridge after a two-year pause due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The tours began running again on July 11, and they are scheduled to continue through November.

“The program is a longtime staple in the community, helping educate residents and visitors about the site’s rich history and current missions,” DOE said in an EM Update newsletter published Tuesday. (EM stands for environmental management.)

The tour program started in 1996 and has attracted tens of thousands of visitors from all 50 states, DOE said.

The three-and-a-half-hour tours allow visitors to see all three DOE sites on the Oak Ridge Reservation, including Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Y-12 National Security Complex, and East Tennessee Technology Park.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, History, K-25, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: American Museum of Science and Energy, bus tours, East Tennessee Technology Park, Graphite Reactor, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex

Updated: K-25 Viewing Platform will be built

Posted at 4:12 pm February 2, 2022
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Artist rendering of the new Viewing Platform, which will be located next to the recently constructed K-25 History Center overlooking the footprint of the K-25 Building. (Artist renderings by David Brown)

Note: This story was updated at 9 a.m. Feb. 4.

Two federal agencies have agreed to build a K-25 Viewing Platform at the historic site in west Oak Ridge that was used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants during World War II and the Cold War. The design is expected to be complete in March and the building completed by the end of 2023.

The construction agreement for the viewing building at the former K-25 site was signed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The viewing platform will give visitors a view of the large 44-acre footprint of the former K-25 Building. K-25, which was the world’s largest building, was erected during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project to help enrich uranium for the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II. The K-25 Building was demolished in 2013, and many other structures at the site have been removed as the federal government turns over property for private development.

The K-25 Building site itself is now part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. That project commemorates the workers, equipment, and processes used during the Manhattan Project in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

The K-25 Viewing Platform and associated exhibits are the final components of a multi-project agreement that the Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management signed in 2012, clearing the way for demolition of the North Tower of the mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building. The projects commemorate the history of the K-25 site, which has also been known as the Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Federal, Government, K-25, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Ben Williams, Cold War, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, equipment building, Joseph Sahl, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, K-25 Viewing Platform, Laura Wilkerson, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, OREM, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, uranium enrichment, USACE

K-25 History Center re-opens

Posted at 1:29 pm May 26, 2021
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

Image courtesy K-25 History Center

After a long shutdown during the COVID-19 pandemic, the K-25 History Center re-opened Monday morning.

The K-25 History Center is located on the south side of the site where the K-25 Building used to be at what is now Heritage Center in west Oak Ridge. The K-25 Building was once the world’s largest. The K-25 History Center is on the second floor of the City of Oak Ridge fire station at Heritage Center.

The K-25 site was built during World War II, and it enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants. The site was shut down in the 1980s. The site was built as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, and it was to help enrich uranium for the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Museums, Top Stories Tagged With: COVID-19, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, Manhattan Project, museum, World War II

Museums, national park center closed

Posted at 11:34 am March 18, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The American Museum of Science and Energy is pictured above on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

Museums and the national park welcome center in Oak Ridge are closed because of COVID-19, the respiratory illness that has infected more than 200,000 people in at least 144 countries around the world and killed more than 8,000 people.

The museums closed in Oak Ridge are the American Museum of Science and Energy, Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge, K-25 History Center, Oak Ridge History Museum at Midtown Community Center (Wildcat Den), and Y-12 History Museum at New Hope Center.

Also closed is the Manhattan Project National Historical Park Welcome Center at the Children’s Museum.

The AMSE bus tours are also not operating now.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, COVID-19, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Health, History, Museums, Museums, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: American Museum of Science and Energy, AMSE bus tours, Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, coronavirus, COVID-19, Explore Oak Ridge, K-25 History Center, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, museum, Oak Ridge History Museum, Y-12 History Museum

SSAB to hear about reuse, historic preservation at ETTP

Posted at 8:21 am March 5, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

K-25 History Center (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)

The Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board will hear about reuse and historic preservation at the East Tennessee Technology Park, including the new K-25 History Center, during a presentation next week.

The presentation will be given to the Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board by Steve Cooke of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. It is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, in the U.S. Department of Energy Information Center at 1 Science.gov Way off Oak Ridge Turnpike in east Oak Ridge.

Some of the last remaining Manhattan Project and Cold War buildings are being demolished at ETTP, and most major cleanup work is expected to be completed this year.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, K-25, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: East Tennessee Technology Park, ETTP, historic preservation, K-25 History Center, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Oak Ridge Site Specific Advisory Board, SSAB, Steve Cooke, U.S. Department of Energy

‘Mud’ photography exhibit opens at K-25 History Center on Thursday

Posted at 3:14 pm February 24, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The new K-25 History Center will be hosting “Mud, a Photographic Exhibition of Life in the Secret City.” The exhibit will open on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2020, and it will be available for viewing through the month of March. (Submitted photo)

The new K-25 History Center will be hosting “Mud, a Photographic Exhibition of Life in the Secret City.” The exhibit will open on Thursday, February 27, and it will be available for viewing through the month of March.

There will be a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the K-25 History Center at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, February 27.

During World War II, Oak Ridge was a quickly built as a secret government town of 70,000 workers who lived in a camp-like environment of barbed wire, security checkpoints, and code words, a press release said. Workers were fingerprinted, interviewed, assigned a job, and given a clearance badge. Housing was limited and cramped and often unheated.

Oak Ridgers who ventured into Knoxville were easy to spot. The quickly constructed secret city was blanketed in a thick layer of mud. As a result, its residents’ muddy shoes were a dead giveaway as to their origin. “The muddy conditions of Oak Ridge during the war was a commonality that all residents, regardless of occupation, had to contend with,” the press release said.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, History, K-25, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Cold War, James Edward Westcott, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park Act, mud, Mud a Photographic Exhibition of Life in the Secret City, Oak Ridge, U.S. Department of Energy, World War II

K-25 History Center to feature exhibits, artifacts, galleries

Posted at 6:20 am February 19, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

K-25 History Center (Photo courtesy U.S. Department of Energy Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management)


The K-25 History Center in west Oak Ridge will feature exhibits with more than 250 original artifacts and interactive galleries developed with help from almost 1,000 oral histories.

There will be a grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony for the K-25 History Center at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, February 27.

“The K-25 History Center was created to honor the amazing stories of the men and women who helped construct and operate the uranium enrichment complex that altered the global landscape during the Manhattan Project and Cold War,” the U.S. Department of Energy said.

The History Center is housed in 7,500 square feet of space on the second floor of the city-owned fire station at the former K-25 site, now known as Heritage Center. It was developed as part of a 2012 agreement that allowed DOE to demolish the North Tower of the former mile-long, U-shaped K-25 Building.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Front Page News, History, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Cold War, DOE, Heritage Center, K-25, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, Manhattan Project, nuclear weapon, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium enrichment, World War II

K-25 History Center has grand opening this month

Posted at 1:07 pm February 7, 2020
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The K-25 History Center will have a grand opening ceremony on Thursday, February 27.

The ceremony, which will include a ribbon-cutting, is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Thursday, February 27, at 652 Enrichment Street in west Oak Ridge.

The K-25 site, now known as Heritage Center, was built during World War II to help enrich uranium for the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs. K-25 helped enrich uranium for “Little Boy,” a nuclear weapon dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, shortly before the end of World War II.

After the war, K-25 enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants through the Cold War. The site was shut down in the mid-1980s, and it is being cleaned up and converted into a private industrial park. The site’s large uranium enrichment buildings have been demolished and so have many of the support buildings. Most of the cleanup is expected to be completed this year.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, History, K-25, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: atomic bombs, Cold War, equipment building, gaseous diffusion, grand opening, Heritage Center, historic preservation, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, K-25 site, Manhattan Project, North Tower, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, U.S. Department of Energy, uranium enrichment, viewing tower, World War II

DOE needs more time for K-25 history projects

Posted at 12:08 am February 21, 2019
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

An outside view showing the K-25 History Center, Equipment Building, and Viewing Tower at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

An image published in October 2017 shows the K-25 History Center, Equipment Building, and Viewing Tower at East Tennessee Technology Park in west Oak Ridge. (Image courtesy U.S. Department of Energy)

 

The U.S. Department of Energy is requesting more time to complete projects to commemorate the historic contributions of the former K-25 site in west Oak Ridge.

Built during World War II, the K-25 site helped enrich uranium for the first atomic bomb used in wartime as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. The plant continued to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons and commercial nuclear power plants after the war, and those who have worked at the site have said it helped win the Cold War.

The history of the site will be honored by preserving the concrete slab of the former K-25 Building, building a Viewing Tower and replica Equipment Building on the south side of the building site, and opening a K-25 History Center on the second floor of the adjacent Oak Ridge Fire Station Number 4.

A historical interpretation agreement was signed in August 2012. But it expires this August. And the roughly $20 million worth of projects won’t be complete by then.

DOE is making “good progress,” but “the reality is we need a little more time,” said Dave Adler, acting deputy manager for DOE’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management. Adler and Steve Cooke, K-25 preservation coordinator for DOE, briefly discussed the proposed amendment to the agreement during a Tuesday evening work session with the Oak Ridge City Council. [Read more…]

Filed Under: East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, Government, K-25, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: 9731, atomic bomb, Beta 3, Clinton Engineer Works, Cold Wr, Dave Adler, DOE, East Tennessee Technology Park, equipment building, gaseous diffusion, Graphite Reactor, Heritage Center, historical interpretation agreement, K-25, K-25 Building, K-25 History Center, K-25 site, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, National Historic Preservation Act, National Park Service, nuclear power plants, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge City Council, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management, plutonium production, Steve Cooke, U.S. Department of Energy, UCOR, viewing tower, World War II, X-10, Y-12

K-25 overlook to re-open in October

Posted at 2:29 pm September 7, 2018
By Oak Ridge Today Staff Leave a Comment

The Visitor's Overlook, part of the Happy Valley property purchased in November, is pictured above across from East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The Visitor’s Overlook, part of the Happy Valley property purchased in November 2016, is pictured above across from East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, on Thursday, Oct. 19, 2017. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

K-25 Overlook will be ‘bigger and better,’ provide Manhattan Project and recreational information

The K-25 Overlook next to State Route 58 in west Oak Ridge will soon be re-opening as a much larger and nicer visitor center that will also have a new purpose, a press release said.

Owner John McCormick, vice president of Bionomics, purchased the 160-acre property known as Happy Valley through an auction at the end of 2016. The overlook on SR 58 across from the East Tennessee Technology Park, the former K-25 site, was part of the purchase.

But the overlook needed building repairs and updates to the historical information inside, the press release said. In 2017, McCormick partnered with Pam May, vice president of the Roane Alliance, who reached out to local historians, the National Park Service, U.S. Department of Energy, and Explore Oak Ridge to discuss the future of the overlook.

“The idea to expand the overlook into a visitor center and recreational hub came from the National Park Service in one of the early meetings,” May said. “That aligned perfectly with what John had envisioned—to create trails and open spaces that people could enjoy while also learning Happy Valley’s history through its landmarks still evident on the property.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, East Tennessee Technology Park, Front Page News, History, Roane County, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: Bionomics, Designsensory, East Tennessee Technology Park, Explore Oak Ridge, Happy Valley, John McCormick, K-25, K-25 History Center, K-25 Overlook, K-25 site, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, National Park Service, Pam May, Roane Alliance, U.S. Department of Energy, World War II

AMSE: Current museum could close this month, with new home open this fall

Posted at 4:55 pm July 4, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

The current location of the American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue could close at the end of July, and the museum could re-open at its new home at Main Street Oak Ridge in the early fall, officials said. The new location is pictured above under construction on Thursday, June 21, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

The current location of the American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue could close at the end of July, and the museum could re-open at its new home at Main Street Oak Ridge in the early fall, officials said. The new location is pictured above under construction on Thursday, June 21, 2018. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The current location of the American Museum of Science and Energy on South Tulane Avenue could close at the end of July, and the museum could re-open at its new home at Main Street Oak Ridge in the early fall, officials said.

In the meantime, the museum might not be open a month or two as exhibits are moved, said Ken Tarcza, manager of the Oak Ridge Office for the U.S. Department of Energy. But DOE bus tours will continue, Tarcza said at a meeting to give an update about the AMSE project at Oak Ridge High School on June 14. Some specifics of the transition haven’t been worked out yet.

Tarcza said the new 18,000-square-foot museum will feature state-of-the-art interactive exhibits and hands-on activities. It will be in renovated space on the north side of Main Street Oak Ridge near JCPenney. Besides exhibits and activities, the new museum will also have a lecture hall and two classrooms.

There will be four major categories featured in the museum, Tarcza said: energy leadership, “big science,” national security, and environmental restoration. Many of the exhibits at the current AMSE need to be refreshed, and the majority of the exhibits at the new location will have a brand-new design, Tarcza said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Community, Community, Front Page News, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge Office, Slider, Top Stories, U.S. Department of Energy Tagged With: American Museum of Science and Energy, AMSE, AMSE property transfer, City of Oak Ridge, DOE, Gerard Hilferty and Associates, K-25 History Center, Kathryn Watson, Ken Tarcza, Little Boy, Main Street—Oak Ridge, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, museum, National Park Service, Niki Nicholas, RealtyLink, TN Oak Ridge Illinois LLC, U.S. Department of Energy

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