• About
    • About Us
    • What We Cover
  • Advertise
    • Advertise
    • Our Advertisers
  • Contact
  • Donate
  • Send News
  • Subscribe

Oak Ridge Today

  • Home
  • Sign in
  • News
    • Business
    • Community
    • Education
    • Government
    • Health
    • Police and Fire
    • U.S. Department of Energy
    • Weather
  • Sports
    • High School
    • Middle School
    • Recreation
    • Rowing
    • Youth
  • Entertainment
    • Arts
    • Dancing
    • Movies
    • Music
    • Television
    • Theater
  • Premium Content
  • Obituaries
  • Classifieds




Demolished building once helped protect city, enriched uranium at Y-12

Posted at 2:18 pm June 1, 2018
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

A building that was mostly demolished on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, once helped to protect enriched uranium at Y-12, and it was used by military police and the Oak Ridge Police Department to help protect the city. Part of the building, a former secure federal communications center, was still standing among the demolition debris late Wednesday afternoon. This picture was taken looking southeast from near the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

A building that was mostly demolished on Wednesday, May 30, 2018, once helped to protect enriched uranium at Y-12, and it was used by military police and the Oak Ridge Police Department to help protect the city. Part of the building, a former secure federal communications center, was still standing among the demolition debris late Wednesday afternoon. This picture was taken looking southeast from near the intersection of Bus Terminal Road and Oak Ridge Turnpike. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 8:30 a.m. June 2.

A building that was mostly demolished on Wednesday once helped to protect enriched uranium at Y-12, and it was used by military police and the Oak Ridge Police Department to help protect the city.

The building at 101 Bus Terminal Road was once connected by radio to a Y-12 building that stored the world’s only supply of enriched uranium-235, according to a 2010 newspaper article published by D. Ray Smith, who cited Bill Sergeant, head of security after World War II.

A small section of the Bus Terminal Road building that still had historic artifacts—two holding cells and a heavy, bulletproof steel door—remained standing, surrounded by demolition debris, on Wednesday and Thursday. It’s not clear why that one section hadn’t been demolished yet, but the 2010 newspaper article by Smith said it had been a secure federal communications center and was built to be safe from attack. That small section of the building, which had no external windows, was reported to have a concrete ceiling that was one foot thick.

The building, which is at the intersection with Oak Ridge Turnpike, is now being completely demolished so a Taco Bell restaurant can be built there. The building had been extensively modified, and it’s not clear how much of it might have been considered historic.

Smith said the Bus Terminal Road building was once connected by radio to Building 9213, which stored uranium-235 for about a year at Y-12. Building 9213 is on the south side of Chestnut Ridge, which is on the south side of Y-12. After it briefly stored uranium, Building 9213 was used for criticality experiments for years, Smith said. It’s also been used to train the National Guard to identify and isolate radioactive sources as part of their training for homeland security. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Federal, Government, Government, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge, Slider, U.S. Department of Energy, Y-12 National Security Complex Tagged With: Anderson County General Sessions Court, Auxiliary Military Police, Bill Sergeant, Building 9213, Building 9214, Bus Terminal Road building, Clinton Engineer Works, D. Ray Smith, Don and Emily Hunnicutt, Ed Westcott, enriched uranium, Guard Department, Katy's Kitchen, Manhattan District, Manhattan Project, Manhattan Project National Historical Park, Mark Watson, Midtown Community Center, military police, NOAA building, nuclear weapons, Oak Ridge Police Department, Oak Ridge Utility District, Red Cross building, Security Forces, Stone and Webster Field Hospital, Taco Bell, Tunnell Building, uranium-235, uranium-235 storage, Warren Gooch, Wildcat Den, World War II, Y-12

Preservationists concerned as NOAA seeks comment on possible move from historic building

Posted at 2:12 pm November 18, 2016
By John Huotari Leave a Comment

noaa-building-nov-16-2016

Preservationists are concerned as federal officials seek public comment on the possibility of moving out of a historic building that is one of the few World War II-era buildings remaining on main roads in Oak Ridge—and possibly the only one left on Illinois Avenue. It was once an emergency hospital and then a health department. It now houses the Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, or ATDD, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, at 456 South Illinois Avenue. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Preservationists are concerned as federal officials seek public comment on the possibility of moving out of a historic building that is one of the few World War II-era buildings remaining on main roads in Oak Ridge—and possibly the only one left on Illinois Avenue.

The Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, or ATDD, of the Air Resources Laboratory, which is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, is now at 456 South Illinois Avenue. It’s just north of Ole Ben Franklin Motors and across from new shopping centers on the other side of South Illinois Avenue.

During World War II, the single-story white building was an emergency hospital to serve federal plants. Oak Ridge was built in the mid-1940s, during the war, to help make the world’s first nuclear weapons as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project, and it enriched uranium for the first atomic bomb used in wartime.

After the war, the building, which is now owned by NOAA, was used as the city’s health department, said Mick Wiest of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, or ORHPA.

Wiest said the building is well-maintained, and it’s received a historic preservation award from ORHPA. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Community, Federal, Front Page News, Government, Government, Nonprofits, Slider Tagged With: Air Resources Laboratory, alcohol sales, Alexander Inn, ATDD, Atmospheric Turbulence and Diffusion Division, Bruce Baker, Federal Register, Guest House, historic building, historic preservation, Manhattan Project, Mick Wiest, Monica Allen, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Oak Ridge, Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, ORHPA, Red Cross building, South Illinois Avenue, Tunnell Building, World War II

Red Cross building—the city’s housing office in World War II—is for sale

Posted at 4:37 pm August 12, 2016
By John Huotari 4 Comments

Red-Cross-Building-Aug-10-2016-High

The Red Cross building, which was the city’s housing office during World War II, is for sale. The building, which is on Oak Ridge Turnpike, is pictured above on Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2016. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

The Red Cross building, which was used as the city’s housing office during World War II, is for sale.

The American Red Cross had been in the building since 1945, but it last had a part-time employee there in 2014.

It’s one of the few original Oak Ridge buildings remaining on Oak Ridge Turnpike or Illinois Avenue, said Mick Wiest, president of the Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association.

A Red Cross official said the organization is trying to lower its overhead across the country and occupy fewer buildings. That leaves more money to serve clients, said Michelle Hankes, executive director of the Red Cross East Tennessee Chapter Office, which is based in Knoxville.

Much of the organization’s work is field work and can be conducted with a laptop and cell phone, Hankes said. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Business, Business, Community, Front Page News, Health, Nonprofits, Oak Ridge, Slider, Top Stories Tagged With: American Red Cross, Anderson County, East Tennessee Chapter Office, historic preservation, Manhattan Project, Michelle Hankes, Mick Wiest, Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association, Oak Ridge Turnpike, ORHPA, Red Cross, Red Cross building, World War II

Search Oak Ridge Today

Classifieds

Public Notice: NNSA announces no significant impact of Y-12 Development Organization operations at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

ADFAC seeks contractors for five homes

Aid to Distressed Families of Appalachian Counties (ADFAC) is a non-profit community based agency, … [Read More...]

Public notice: Draft environmental assessment for Y-12 Development Organization at Horizon Center

AVAILABILITY OF THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR THE OFFSITE HOUSING OF THE Y-12 DEVELOPMENT … [Read More...]

Recent Posts

  • Rocky Top woman pleads guilty to murder, sentenced to life
  • REAC/TS welcomes new team members: John Crapo, Josh Hayes and David Quillen
  • NASA Postdoctoral Program seeks early career and senior scientists for prestigious fellowships at its locations across the U.S.
  • ORAU names Brandon Criswell associate general counsel
  • Update on downtown Oak Ridge Tuesday
  • TVA has virtual open house for Clinch River Nuclear Site
  • Science and supercomputers at ORNL topic of Mar. 8 talk
  • First Presbyterian offers free meals & groceries on Mar. 10
  • Secret City Academy student charged with terrorism after alleged shooting, bomb threats
  • ORHS Masquers presents ‘Into the Woods’
A Twitter List by OakRidgeToday

Recent Comments

  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Mark Caldwell on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Matt Bailey on Dodson also wants to serve as mayor pro tem
  • Tracy Powers on Planning Commission to consider Main Street apartments, plan revisions
  • johnhuotari on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • Levi D. Smith on Four incumbents re-elected to Oak Ridge City Council
  • samuel hopwood on Housing: Apartments proposed on former AMSE site
  • Matt Bailey on Robin Smith named Oak Ridge police chief

About Us

About Oak Ridge Today
What We Cover

How To

Advertise
Subscribe

Contact Us

Contact Oak Ridge Today

Copyright © 2022 Oak Ridge Today