The largest-ever Dogwood Junior Championship regatta is in Oak Ridge this weekend.
The regatta is hosted by the Oak Ridge Rowing Association.
Racing will take place at Oak Ridge Marina on the Clinch River on Saturday, April 27, from 7:30 a.m.-6:45 p.m. and on Sunday, April 28, from 8 a.m.-4:15 p.m.
[Read more…]
Officials and referees used Oak Ridge Rowing Association boats to monitor the races on the seven-lane course at the 2016 SIRA Championship Regatta in Oak Ridge on Sunday, April 17, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council approved a $548,350 contract to add an eighth lane to the city’s rowing course in a 6-0 vote during a brief special meeting Tuesday.
The contract will be awarded to First Place Finish Incorporated. The work will include a precast concrete block retaining wall and associated dredging and site work.
The six Council members who were present voted “yes.” Council member Trina Baughn was absent.
More details about the project are included in this special meeting agenda.
Funding for the eighth lane project comes from several sources, Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson said in a September 2 memo to City Council. The Tennessee Department of Tourist Development has allocated $250,000 for the project. The city’s Capital Improvements Program, or CIP, has budgeted $585,000 for the project, with the city’s share being $185,000.
Other sources of funding include: [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge Police Department evacuated residents from the Oak Ridge Marina pavilion after gunshots were reported from across the lake on Friday evening, but officers said no injuries or damages were reported or found. (Photo by Michael Marrison)
Note: This story was last updated at 5 p.m. Sept. 5.
The Oak Ridge Police Department evacuated residents from the Oak Ridge Marina pavilion after gunshots were reported from across the lake on Friday evening, but officers said no injuries or damages were reported or found.
The ORPD received a report from people at the Melton Lake Pavilion at about 7:03 p.m. Friday, September 2, that shots were being fired in their direction from across the lake, a press release said.
“Complainants reported that bullets could be heard passing over the pavilion area,” the ORPD press release said.
ORPD officers responded to the pavilion immediately and safely evacuated the residents using a hand-carried ballistic shield, the press release said. [Read more…]
Two bids to add an eighth lane to the Oak Ridge rowing course came in much higher than city officials were prepared to spend, and City Council will consider rejecting the bids during a meeting on Monday, June 13, 2016. Above, officials and referees used Oak Ridge Rowing Association boats to monitor the races on the seven-lane course at the 2016 SIRA Championship Regatta in Oak Ridge on Sunday, April 17, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The city has received two bids on a project to add an eighth rowing lane at the Oak Ridge Marina, and both were significantly higher than what city officials were prepared to spend. So, the Oak Ridge City Council will consider rejecting the two bids during its meeting tonight (Monday, June 13).
The city has received a $250,000 state grant for the proposed eighth lane. The city planned to contribute $150,000, and City Manager Mark Watson had solicited more money from other agencies that would benefit from the rowing course improvements. That meant there was enough money available to fund a project of about $560,000, which is close to a targeted estimate that Watson gave City Council members in March.
But since then, the city has received two bids. The high bid of $2.14 million was from Wright Brothers Construction. The low bid of $1.74 million was from Simpson Construction.
Both bids are “totally out of line with projected estimates,” Watson said in a June 8 memo to City Council. [Read more…]
Twelve of the nation’s best NCAA Division I women’s rowing teams competed this month in the Cardinal Invitational Regatta in Oak Ridge. Pictured above, a West Virginia University team competes at Oak Ridge Marina on Saturday, March 12, 2016. The eighth lane would require some work along the Melton Lake Drive side of the course, which is on the right side of this picture. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
Note: This story was last updated at 5:30 p.m.
An eighth lane at the seven-lane Oak Ridge rowing course could cost more than $500,000 and up to about $1.2 million, officials said Tuesday.
The eighth lane has been on the wish list of rowers and many local officials for years. They say it would allow the Oak Ridge Rowing Association to compete for bigger races and international regattas, which require an eighth lane. It would also keep the site a top-tier rowing venue and provide more on-water capacity, allowing more competitors in events. It’s also expected to significantly increase the economic impact of rowing races, or regattas.
Officials announced a $250,000 state grant for the eighth lane in April 2015.
In August, the city hired Barge, Waggoner, Sumner, and Cannon Inc. for design and survey work, among other tasks.
A March 1 memo from BWSC to Jon Hetrick, Oak Ridge Recreation and Parks director, outlines five construction options with various estimates of probable costs ranging between $543,771 and $1,162,444. The five estimated construction costs include a 20 percent contingency. All five options would include a retaining wall and earthwork, which would include excavation and dredging. [Read more…]
Twelve of the nation’s best NCAA Division I women’s rowing teams competed this weekend in the Cardinal Invitational Regatta in Oak Ridge. Pictured above, a Notre Dame team competes at Oak Ridge Marina on Saturday, March 12, 2016. (Photo by Julio Culiat)
Twelve of the nation’s best NCAA Division I women’s rowing teams competed this weekend in the Cardinal Invitational Regatta in Oak Ridge. Here are photos by Julio Culiat.
The rowing races were hosted by the University of Louisville at the Oak Ridge Rowing Association on Melton Hill Lake.
The 2016 Cardinal Regatta included the following rowing teams: [Read more…]
The Haunted Harvest Hike that had been scheduled for Saturday has been canceled.
The hike had been moved to the Oak Ridge Marina because of a deer hunt at Haw Ridge that does not allow foot traffic, but the 2015 Kids Count 5k!, a competitive road race to benefit the Child Advocacy Center of Anderson County, is also on Saturday at the Oak Ridge Marina.
Organizers were concerned that the two events could cause confusion and limit parking, so they canceled the Haunted Harvest Hike. They plan to schedule an event as soon as possible.
“Thank you for your interest,” a notice said.
The location has changed for the Haunted Harvest Hike on Saturday, October 31. The new location is the Oak Ridge Marina Pavilion.
The Haunted Harvest Hike will start at the marina pavilion and leave promptly at 9 a.m. Saturday, organizers said. The hike is scheduled to last until about 11 a.m.
“Please feel free to get in the Halloween spirit early and come in costume,” organizers said. Costumes are encouraged but not required.
The hike includes Phase 1 of the Melton Lake Greenway. Phase 2 and 3 may be included for longer distances. This is either a 2.6-mile “out and back” walk, or if you choose 2 and 3 together, it will be 4.6 miles. The walk path has varied elevations and can accommodate bicycles and strollers.
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Melissa Peplow, left, is legally blind, and Vicky Wallace, in wheelchair, has lost use of the left side of her body after four strokes. But together the two compete in running races. Here they train at the Oak Ridge Marina. On Sunday, they’ll compete in the 40th Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
One running partner is legally blind. The other has had four strokes and lost control of the left side of her body.
But together, they’ve formed a racing duo that’s competed in 5ks, 10ks, 15ks, and half-marathons.
This weekend, the duo, Melissa Peplow and Vicky Wallace, will compete in the their longest race yet, a full marathon. It’s the 40th Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday in Washington, D.C.
Peplow is legally blind. She runs behind Wallace’s wheelchair and helps push it.
Wallace’s left side is paralyzed. She helps navigate and uses her right hand to help push her wheelchair, and her right leg to help pull it.
The two competed in back-to-back half-marathons in East Tennessee last November, racing in Farragut on a Saturday and then in Alcoa on a Sunday.
Wallace, who is co-owner of J&M Butcher Shop in Oak Ridge, keeps a sticker-box checklist of the races they’ve completed (5k, 10k, 15k, 13.1 (half-marathon)) on the back of her SUV. One box remains unchecked: 26.2. That’s short for 26.2 miles, the length of a marathon.
City workers build a block wall, patch the ceiling, and hang drywall for new bathrooms and changing rooms in part of the former New China Palace restaurant at Melton Lake Park in April 2014. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
After hearing from an auditor who said he found no irregularities, the Oak Ridge City Council voted 6-1 on Monday to end a financial review of the $281,000 project to build bathrooms and changing rooms in the structure that once housed the New China Palace Restaurant at the Oak Ridge Marina.
The audit had been requested by Oak Ridge City Manager Mark Watson, who said there was an allegation at the last Council meeting that there was some problem.
“When you get in front of a camera and you allege that something bad is going on…” Watson said, then you need to hear from a third party.
Questions have been raised about the building renovation by Oak Ridge City Council member Trina Baughn, who pointed out that she wasn’t the first to raise concerns, and former City Council member Anne Garcia Garland, among others. Most of the questions and criticisms have focused on the cost. A few different numbers have been reported about what the project was initially expected to cost and what it ended up costing. The 2014 budget showed it had a projected cost of $75,000, Baughn said.
But auditor Adam Allen, a principal of Coulter and Justus, told Council members during a special report on Monday that the renovation cost about $281,000. About half of that was labor, and another 50 percent was materials, Allen said. The audit found no irregularities. [Read more…]
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will hear a report on an audit of the costs and procedures associated with renovating the bathrooms at the Oak Ridge Marina, appoint a seven-member Charter Review Committee, and consider setting up a five-member Oak Ridge Corridor Initiative Committee. (File photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)
The Oak Ridge City Council on Monday will hear a report on an audit of the costs and procedures associated with renovating the bathrooms at the Oak Ridge Marina, appoint a seven-member Charter Review Committee, and consider setting up a five-member Oak Ridge Corridor Initiative Committee.
Questions have occasionally been raised about the cost of renovating the marina bathrooms, and the City Council will hear the results of a financial audit by Coulter and Justus during the meeting tonight (Monday, October 12).
Also tonight, the City Council will appoint the seven members of a Charter Review Committee. The Charter Review Committee is called for in the City Charter. [Read more…]
Dragon boats are pictured above at the Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival at Melton Lake Park on May 31, 2014. (Submitted photo)Â
The second annual Oak Ridge Dragon Boat Festival this weekend will include dragon boat races, music, vendors, a youth area for kids, and a beer garden.
The Oak Ridge Marina boat ramp will be closed on Friday, May 29, and Saturday, May 30, for the festival, organizers said. They expect increased traffic congestion on Melton Lake Drive this weekend. Organizers are encouraging those who attend to park at Roane State Community College on Briarcliff Avenue and catch a ride in a bus or van to the waterfront.
Thirty or or more teams of 20 paddlers each are expected in Oak Ridge for the 2015 Dragon Boat Festival.
The festival, which will raise money for local charities, will start on Friday evening, May 29, with a “Lanterns on the Lake†ceremony, music, beer garden, and other festivities. [Read more…]
