Oak Ridge Today

Updated: Park Service will not provide visitor services during shutdown

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Note: This story was updated at 1:50 p.m.

The National Park Service will not provide visitor services during the partial government shutdown that started Friday night, and that could affect programs in Oak Ridge and other national parks in the area. But Manhattan Project Park locations at three sites, including Oak Ridge, will remain open to the public and continue to provide visitor services.

Oak Ridge is part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which is part of the National Park Service. The park, which is about three years old, commemorates the Manhattan Project, a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II. Besides Oak Ridge, two other sites are part of the park: Hanford, Washington, and Los Alamos, New Mexico.

In Oak Ridge, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park is based at the Children’s Museum on West Outer Drive. The park includes programs such as historical films, celebrations, and programs, and informative hikes and bicycle rides with rangers.

The National Park Service did not respond to two inquiries this week, but a program scheduled for Saturday afternoon in Oak Ridge will presumably be canceled. That program was intended to discuss secrecy, security, and spies during the Manhattan Project. It was scheduled for this afternoon (Saturday, December 22) at the Turnpike Gatehouse in west Oak Ridge. [Read more…]

Dick Smyser Lecture on Thursday features science educator discussing total solar eclipse

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Chap Percival (Submitted photo)

Chap Percival (Submitted photo)

The 20th Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series opens on Thursday, May 18, and it will feature Chap Percival, a science educator from Sarasota, Florida.

Percival will talk about the total solar eclipse that will occur on August 21. The title of his presentation is “Go See the Eclipse.”

This event is co-sponsored by the Oak Ridge Isochronous Observation Network (ORION), the National Park Sevice (NPS), and Friends of ORNL (FORNL), a press release said.

It’s free of charge, and it will be held at the American Museum of Science and Energy, which is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. A reception will be held in the museum lobby starting at 5:30 p.m. (snacks will be served), and the lecture will start at 6 p.m. in the museum auditorium.

“This talk should be of interest to students and the general public,” the press release said.

Percival is a lifelong educator. He lives in Sarasota, Florida. He has a BA in mathematics and physics from Taylor University, an MAT in planetarium education from Michigan State University, and an MEd in instructional technology from the University of Virginia, the press release said. [Read more…]

Not clear yet where National Park Service will go when AMSE closes

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former-sears-roebuck-co-oak-ridge-jan-2-2017-web

An agreement signed Friday, Dec. 30, 2016, by the U.S. Department of Energy and City of Oak Ridge calls for the American Museum of Science and Energy missions to be relocated within about one year to 18,000 square feet of space in a two-story building that once housed a Sears Roebuck store next to JCPenney at Main Street Oak Ridge. It’s not yet clear if the National Park Service, which has shared space with AMSE, will also move into this building. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

It’s not clear yet where the National Park Service will go when the American Museum of Science and Energy building closes at the end of the year, but a federal official said the Park Service will stay in Oak Ridge.

It could relocate to a two-story building that once housed Sears Roebuck at Main Street Oak Ridge, the former Oak Ridge Mall. That’s where the U.S. Department of Energy’s public education and outreach missions, now housed at the American Museum of Science and Energy, are moving.

But the National Park Service hadn’t committed to moving there as of April 17, said Niki Nicholas, site manager of the Oak Ridge unit of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The NPS needs more information, Nicholas said in response to questions after a Monday afternoon presentation to AAUW, or American Association of University Women. (A reader had told Oak Ridge Today of an April 17 letter reportedly sent from the Manhattan Project National Historical Park to federal officials at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, which manages AMSE.)

Nicholas said the National Park Service has several options in Oak Ridge, including Main Street Oak Ridge. But she declined to elaborate on the precise number of options, where they might be, or what organizations or businesses might be co-located in those buildings. [Read more…]

Learn more about total solar eclipse during Dick Smyser Community Lecture in May

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Photo courtesy National Weather Service

Photo courtesy National Park Service

 

Educator Chap Percival will discuss the upcoming August 21 solar eclipse during a May 18 lecture in Oak Ridge.

Percival will be the featured speaker at this year’s Annual Dick Smyser Community Lecture Series.

The free lecture is scheduled for Thursday, May 18, at the American Museum of Science and Energy, which is at 300 South Tulane Avenue in Oak Ridge. A reception will be held in the museum lobby starting at 5:30 p.m., and the lecture will start at 6 p.m. in the museum auditorium.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, blocking at least part of the sun as viewed from some areas of Earth. During a total solar eclipse, the moon completely obscures the sun so that only the sun’s corona is visible for a moment in time.  On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will be visible along a roughly 67-mile-wide path across the United States, from Oregon to South Carolina, a press release said. [Read more…]

NPS, DOE release document to help guide planning, management at Manhattan Project Park

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Manhattan Project National Historical Park Foundation Document Cover February 2017

After a year of work and open houses in three cities, federal officials have released a document that will be used to guide planning and management at the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge.

The National Park Service and U.S. Department of Energy announced Friday that the planning and management document, known as the Final Foundation Document, has been released. It’s available online.

The Foundation Document is the result of public input and joint planning by DOE and the NPS. In February 2016, the two federal agencies held workshops in Oak Ridge, as well as in Los Alamos, New Mexico, and Hanford, Washington. Hanford and Los Alamos are also part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park.

The open houses in the three communities, which had Manhattan Project research and production centers during World War II, gathered input from “stakeholders and interested parties” related to the important resources, stories, and opportunities for the park. The National Park Service has posted a summary of the open house comments, grouped into 11 areas, which you can see below. [Read more…]

DOE, National Park Service mark first year of Manhattan Project Park

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By U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management

The U.S. Department of Energy and the National Park Service have made considerable progress in their inaugural year managing the national park commemorating the Manhattan Project, according to DOE.

“Everyone involved with the park from DOE, the National Park Service, and our community partners has put a lot of work into the Manhattan Project National Historical Park over the past year and it shows,” DOE Office of Legacy Management Acting Director Thomas Pauling said in a November 30 newsletter called “EM Update.” “The Office of Legacy Management is excited to join the team, and we’re looking forward to contributing to its continuing success.”

Established on November 10, 2015, the park consists of facilities at three sites—Hanford, Washington; Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico—that played key roles in the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. The park tells the story of the people, events, science, and engineering that led to the creation of the atomic bomb, which helped end World War II. [Read more…]

Park Service, DOE seek comment on foundation document for new Manhattan Project park

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Manhattan Project National Historical Park Opens Nov. 12, 2015

The iconic “War Ends” photo is recreated in part on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, with a “Park Opens” photo that celebrates the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge. (U.S. Department of Energy photo by Lynn Freeny)

 

The National Park Service and U.S. Department of Energy are asking the public to review and comment on a draft foundation document for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The park includes Oak Ridge, and it was established in November 2015.

The foundation document is designed to affirm the park’s core mission and significance, its key resources and values, and the interpretive themes that tell its stories, a press release said.

Formally established last November at DOE locations in three states, the park marks the history of the mid-20th Century people, science, and events that led to creation of the atomic bomb in the top-secret effort known as the Manhattan Project.

Foundation documents are guidance tools individualized for each of the National Park Service’s 413 units to direct basic park planning and management, the press release said. [Read more…]

Kirby named superintendent of Manhattan Project National Historical Park

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Kris Kirby

Kris Kirby (NPS photo)

Kris Kirby, a 20-year career employee of the National Park Service, has been selected as superintendent of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge.

The announcement was made in Denver on Thursday by Intermountain Regional Director Sue Masica.

Kirby will assume her new duties October 16, 2016.

Kirby currently serves as the chief of business and revenue management at Yosemite National Park in California. Prior to her assignment there, she served as chief of commercial services at Lake Mead National Recreation Area and previously worked in concessions management at Glacier National Park, a press release said.

“Kris has spent her career fostering relationships inside and outside the service,” Masica said in the press release. “Those skills are an excellent match for this park and its many partners.” [Read more…]

National Park Service, DOE have three meetings on Manhattan Project Park

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Oak-Ridge-Group-Manhattan-Project-National-Historical-Park-Signing-Nov-10-2015

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz shortly after they signed a memorandum of agreement and created the 409th park in the National Park System, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The park was authorized by Congress in December 2014. The park will have three sites in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The signing ceremony took place at the South Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 10, 2015. (NPS Photo by Anthony DeYoung)

 

First meeting on Monday, February 1

The National Park Service and the U.S. Department of Energy will have three public meetings in early February to solicit input on planning for the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The meetings will be held at the three sites associated with the park: Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. The public is encouraged to come to the meetings and meet with representatives of the NPS and the DOE to share their thoughts about the key stories and interpretive ideas related to the park.

Locally, there will be a public meeting held on Monday, February 1, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. (Eastern time) at Oak Ridge High School (in the Food Court) at 1450 Oak Ridge Turnpike. [Read more…]

Oak Ridge celebrates new national park

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National Park Celebration at Jackson Square on Nov. 12, 2015

The iconic “War Ends” photo is recreated in part on Thursday, Nov. 12, 2015, with a “Park Opens” photo that celebrates the new Manhattan Project National Historical Park, which includes Oak Ridge. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:20 a.m. Nov. 13.

Federal officials established the new national park that includes Oak Ridge on Tuesday. Oak Ridge residents celebrated on Thursday.

The new park, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, commemorates the Manhattan Project. That was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic weapons during World War II, before Germany could.

Oak Ridge was the main production site for the Manhattan Project, and uranium enriched at the Y-12 National Security Complex fueled the first atomic bomb used in wartime. It was dropped over Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, shortly before the war ended. [Read more…]

Foundation led efforts to create Manhattan Project Park

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Cindy-Kelly-Victor-Knox-Stephanie-Toothman-Nov-10-2015

AHF President Cindy Kelly with NPS Associate Directors Victor Knox and Stephanie Toothman. (Photo by Atomic Heritage Foundation)

 

WASHINGTON, D.C.—The Atomic Heritage Foundation on Tuesday welcomed the official establishment of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park with units at Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In a ceremony at the Interior Department on Tuesday morning, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernie Moniz and Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell signed an agreement that defines the respective roles of the Department of Energy and the National Park Service in implementing the new park, a press release said.

“Today is a milestone for Manhattan Project history,” said Foundation President Cynthia C. Kelly, who attended the ceremony along with the Foundation’s staff. “For more than a decade, the Atomic Heritage Foundation and our partners have been working to preserve Manhattan Project sites and create the park. The national park is long overdue and will provide Americans with an important opportunity to understand the Manhattan Project and its complex legacy for the world today.”

The sites of the Manhattan Project Park “are among the world’s most significant places, where work was done that changed the human world forever,” said Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of “The Making of the Atomic Bomb” and a member of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. [Read more…]

Photos: Manhattan Project National Historical Park signing ceremony

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Oak-Ridge-Group-Manhattan-Project-National-Historical-Park-Signing-Nov-10-2015

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz shortly after they signed a memorandum of agreement and created the 409th park in the National Park System, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The park was authorized by Congress in December 2014. The park will have three sites in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The ceremony took place at the South Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on November 10, 2015. (NPS Photo by Anthony DeYoung)

 

After more than a decade of work, the U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Interior formally established the Manhattan Project National Historical Park on Tuesday. The new park, which includes Oak Ridge, commemorates one of the signature scientific achievements of the 20th century. It was formally established when Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz signed a memorandum of agreement, or MOA, in Washington, D.C.

The unique, three-site Manhattan Project National Historical Park includes Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Hanford, Washington; and Los Alamos, New Mexico. It’s the nation’s 409th park.

The Manhattan Project was a top-secret federal program to build the world’s first atomic bombs during World War II. Here are photos from Tuesday’s signing ceremony, taken by the National Park Service and used with their permission.

See a story on the park and the signing ceremony here.

Vic-Knox-Manhattan-Project-National-Historical-Park-Nov-10-2015

National Park Service Associate Director Victor Knox welcomed visitors from Hanford, Washington, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and Los Alamos, New Mexico, to a ceremony at the South Interior Building in Washington, D.C., on November 10, 2015, where Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell and Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz, signed a memorandum of agreement and created the 409th park in the National Park System, the Manhattan Project National Historical Park. The park was authorized by Congress in December 2014. The park will have three sites in Los Alamos, New Mexico; Hanford, Washington; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee. (NPS Photo by Anthony DeYoung)

 

[Read more…]