Monthly dances by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park recreate the open-air tennis court dances that entertained 75,000 workers and their families in the Secret City during World War II.
“Put on your dancing shoes, another summer of tennis court dances are kicking off on the Jackson Square tennis courts,” a press release said.
The all-ages dances are scheduled monthly on the third Thursday.
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You can learn more about the history of Oak Ridge during World War II during a free national park walk through Jackson Square on Thursday, July 18.
The walk is offered by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge.
The program is scheduled to start at 6 p.m. July 18, at the fountain in the main parking lot in Jackson Square.
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You can walk through Wheat with a National Park Service ranger on Saturday, July 13, and learn more about the history of this community before the Manhattan Project.
Wheat was in an area that is now west Oak Ridge, and it was one of the communities displaced by the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II.
The free July 13 walk is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
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You can get an introduction to the history of the K-25 plant, which once had the world’s largest building, with a National Park Service ranger on Saturday.
K-25 was built as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project during World War II. That was a federal program to build the world’s first atomic bomb, before Germany could.
Saturday’s talk is titled “K-25: Enriching Uranium in Happy Valley.” It is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. at the K-25 Overlook across from the K-25 site, which is now known as Heritage Center or East Tennessee Technology Park. The talk is free, and it is expected to last about one hour.
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The summertime tennis court dances organized by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park start in two weeks.
The first dance of this summer is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 16, on the Jackson Square Tennis Courts. They continue monthly on the third Thursday.
“The park recreates the open air tennis court dances held during the Manhattan Project to entertain the
75,000 war workers and their families contained within America’s Secret City (Oak Ridge),” a newsletter said. “The dances are an all-ages event, and all are encouraged to participate. Featuring swing music
from the 1940s, you might get bit by the jitterbug out on the court.”
Federal cleanup crews are preparing to demolish three support facilities for the historic Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The demolition of the support facilities is planned for next year.
The deactivation work at the three facilities is being done by UCOR, a cleanup contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office of Environmental Management.
The buildings include the filter house, or Building 3002; fan house, or Building 3003; and exhaust stack, or Building 3018. They were previously used to filter and release exhaust from Graphite Reactor operations.
[Read more…]A historical walk through Jackson Square with the Manhattan Project National Historical Park has been rescheduled to February 10 due to the winter weather in January.
The walk with the National Park Service is titled “Building America’s Secret City: Ranger Walk Through Jackson Square.” It is now scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday, February 10.
“Explore what it took to shape the farms and mud of East Tennessee into the Atomic City,” an event notice said.
[Read more…]Here is information from the National Park Service about Thanksgiving in the United States, Tennessee, and Oak Ridge.
Oak Ridge is part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which commemorates the top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during the second world war. Besides Oak Ridge, the national park includes Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.
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.
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You can learn about Oak Ridge history at Jackson Square on Saturday.
The free program is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. Saturday, January 14. It is organized by the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
“Join a park ranger for a walk through Jackson Square,” the National Park Service said.
The program will begin in the upper parking lot of Jackson Square in front of the fountain.
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A new supervisor has been named for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge.
The selection of Wendy Berhman as the new superintendent was announced by National Park Service Acting Regional Director Kate Hammond.
Berhman succeeds Kris Kirby, who served in the position for six years before accepting a position as associate state director for the Bureau of Land Management Wyoming State Office, the NPS said.
Besides Oak Ridge, the three-site national park includes Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The three sites were part of the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. The park was established in 2015, and it is administered through a collaborative partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy.
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The City of Oak Ridge has been designated a World War II Heritage City, the only city in Tennessee to receive that designation.
The National Park Service has notified the city of the designation, Oak Ridge said in a press release Tuesday.
“The American World War II Heritage Cities Program honors the contributions of local towns, cities, (and) counties, and commemorates the stories of the men, women, and children whose bravery and sacrifices shaped the U.S. home front during World War II, and still impact our nation today,” the press release said. “Only one American World War II Heritage City can be designated in each state or territory. Oak Ridge played a critical role in history and has been designated Tennessee’s American World War II Heritage City through the program. ”
Oak Ridge was a key production site during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, a federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons, before Germany could. Among other work, Oak Ridge enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb used in wartime and had the first reactor to make plutonium-239. A plutonium sample was sent to scientific facilities at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and more of that isotope, the fuel used in the second bomb, was produced at Hanford, Washington.
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