Oak Ridge Today

Lake City recommends Rocky Top name change, but receives copyright warning

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Lake City Council Approves Rocky Top Name Change

The Lake City Council votes 4-0 on Thursday to recommend changing the town’s name to Rocky Top, and Rep. John Ragan, right, said he has drafted legislation to approve the rechristening in the state legislature.

LAKE CITY—Just hours before a historic vote to change this town’s name for the second time in less than a century, Lake City Mayor Tim Sharp received a legal letter warning him that a proposal to build a Rocky Top theme park here could violate trademark rights and should be dropped.

But project supporters packed City Hall on Thursday, and the Lake City Council pressed on, voting 4-0 to recommend changing the name of this former coal mining town to Rocky Top. It’s the first step in a project to build a multi-million dollar theme park that could include an interactive Knotty Pine 3-D theater, water park, hotel, and restaurant.

The last-minute letter from an intellectual property attorney in Nashville could have Lake City officials and the park’s investors scrambling to answer legal questions. The notice was “very unexpected,” Sharp said. [Read more…]

Reminder: Lake City Council to vote on Rocky Top name change today

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Information from WYSH Radio

The Lake City Council will meet at 5 p.m. today (Thursday) to discuss and vote on the proposal to change the city’s name to Rocky Top as the first step toward turning the small town into a tourist destination.

Developers have proposed a $20 million first phase of the project that could include attractions like a theater, a water park, and a large restaurant. The name change is widely expected to be approved during today’s meeting.

If it is, the measure will be sent to the General Assembly in Nashville for its approval when the next legislative session begins in January. If state lawmakers sign off on the change, it will be sent back to the City Council for ratification. [Read more…]

More than 400 attend Rocky Top meeting in Lake City on Friday

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Information from WYSH Radio

More than 400 people attended Friday night’s bean and cornbread social and informational meeting on a proposal to change the name of Lake City to Rocky Top as the first step toward the creation of a massive Rocky Top theme park.

The event was held at Main Street Baptist Church and featured a presentation from the developers of the proposed tourist destination as well as from Anderson County Property Assessor Johnny Alley, who told the crowd that property taxes would not only not go up because of the project, but if all goes as planned, residents could actually see their property taxes decline as new revenue comes in. Lake City Mayor Tim Sharp told residents that the only cost to the town will be changing the name.

The park, as proposed, would be built on land owned by the city on Highway 441 between I-75 and Highway 25. The first phase of the development would be called the Rocky Top Pavilion and would feature a theater designed to attract musical acts like those found in Branson, Mo.; an indoor-outdoor water park; and a large restaurant. Developers also envision a sports hall of fame and museum. [Read more…]

Informational meeting Friday on changing Lake City’s name to Rocky Top

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Anyone interested in learning more about the proposal to change Lake City’s name to Rocky Top can attend an informational meeting and beans and corn bread social on Friday evening in Lake City.

The developers and partners of Rocky Top will be available to answer all questions concerning the project, locations, jobs, and the general impact on the community, said Stephanie Wells, executive director of the Anderson County Tourism Council.

The meeting starts at 6 p.m. Friday at Main Street Baptist Church, located at the corner of Fourth and Main Street in Lake City. [Read more…]

Lake City has Nov. 1 public meeting on changing name to Rocky Top

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Information from WYSH Radio

Lake City residents who want more information about a proposal to change their city’s name to Rocky Top as the first step toward the creation of an amusement destination with a water park, restaurant, and theaters tied together by the area’s coal mining history will get a chance to get that information and share their opinions during a public meeting scheduled for Friday, Nov. 1, at 6 p.m. in the Family Life Center of Main Street Baptist Church.

The Lake City Council will consider the name change on Thursday, Nov. 7. If approved, the change would have to be approved by the General Assembly. [Read more…]

Rocky Top theme park proposed in Lake City

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Information from WYSH Radio

A new theme park proposed for Lake City could prove to be an economic boon but before anything can happen, the developer wants the city to change its name.

Proposed is a $20 million project that includes a brewery and distillery, interactive kids’ theater, and an outdoor amphitheater, an indoor/outdoor water park and resort with a restaurant that looks like a shipwreck and seats 700, and a Rocky Top-themed sports museum, as well as a 100-bed lodge and several other attractions.

In addition to the theme park, they also want to change the name of the city to Rocky Top. [Read more…]

Town Hall meeting in Lake City to focus on proposed theme park

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Information from WYSH Radio

There will be a Town Hall meeting in Lake City at 3:30 p.m. today (Thursday), during which attendees will be able to see and hear a presentation from Knoxville Businessman Buddy Warren—owner of several companies including Rocky Top Beer and Rocky Top Moonshine as well as the right to the name “Rocky Top, Tennessee”—to discuss his proposal to build a Rocky Top theme park and relocate his bottling company, brewery, and distillery to the Lake City area.

The proposed park would include a Rocky Top sports museum, a coal miners’ theater for live music, an emporium, a restaurant, a 100-bed lodge, an Interactive 3D theater, an indoor water park, and several other amenities, including a new studio for our sister station Merle FM.

[Read more…]

Local agencies receive more than $350K in highway safety funds

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Tennessee officials last week announced $21.1 million in grants to Tennessee agencies to support highway traffic safety efforts, with more than $350,000 designated for local law enforcement agencies.

The grants include about $180,000 to the Anderson County District Attorney General’s Office for driving-under-the-influence abatement and prosecution, and roughly $40,000 to the Anderson County Sheriff’s Department for reducing fatalities in the county. The Oak Ridge Police Department received about $25,000 for alcohol saturation and checkpoints. [Read more…]

Son convicted of drug charges inside courtroom, father arrested outside

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William Charles Braden

William Charles Braden

Betty Jo Braden

Betty Jo Braden

After his son was convicted inside a federal courthouse in Knoxville on drug charges last week, a Lake City man was arrested outside, charged with selling a controlled substance, authorities said.

The mother was also arrested on drug charges, but she was at home on Vowell Mountain Lane near Lake City when she was picked up, authorities said. [Read more…]

Anderson County agrees to buy Lake City bank building for coal mining museum

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Bank of America Lake City

The Anderson County Commission has agreed to buy this former Bank of America building in Lake City for a Coal Mining Museum, storage space, and satellite county offices.

CLINTON— The Anderson County Commission agreed in a 13-1 vote on Monday to buy the former Bank of America building in Lake City for a Coal Mining Museum.

The two-story brick building will be purchased using $100,000 from the sale of property in the David Jones Industrial Park. Lake City will own the former bank, and it could also be used to store excess county supplies and as a satellite office for county departments. Organizers hope to open the museum eight months after Lake City receives the building.

Most of the initial revenue for museum operations would come from Lake City’s lodging tax. The Lake City Council has agreed to use one-third of that hotel and motel tax for the museum for at least the next three years, said Stephanie Wells, director of the Anderson County Tourism Council. [Read more…]

Letter: Support museum for Coal Creek miners, who ‘left their mark on history’

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Aug. 7, 2013

To: Anderson County Commissioner Tim lsbel

From: Barry Thacker and Carol Moore

Re: Support of the Coal Miners’ Museum in Coal Creek (aka Lake City)

We would like to express our continuing support of every effort to preserve and honor the rich coal mining history of Anderson County, Tenn. There is nowhere on Earth with more dramatic coal mining history in such a small area with the effects felt worldwide—and it sits right on I-75!

The miners of Coal Creek in Anderson County, Tenn., left their mark on history. [Read more…]

Lake City picked for PlanET demonstration project

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Information from WYSH Radio

It has already been a banner week for Lake City.

On Monday, the Anderson County Commission’s Operations Committee voted to recommend purchasing the old Bank of America building in Lake City for $100,000 using part of the proceeds of the pending sale of county-owned land to the Hollingsworth Company for $303,000. The remaining $203,000 would be used as seed money for the start-up Anderson County Economic Development Fund. Supporters of the bank building purchase foresee using it as the new home of Coal Miners’ Museum as well as for storage and use as a satellite office for some county government entities.

Now, PlanET, a regional partnership of East Tennessee communities in Anderson, Blount, Knox, Loudon, and Union counties, has selected Lake City as one of its so-called Demonstration Project sites. The program will be funded through the Plan East Tennessee Grant and leverage in-kind services from the East Tennessee Community Design Center, or ETCDC, and the University of Tennessee School of Agriculture. [Read more…]