Oak Ridge Today

National Park Service in Oak Ridge to move to Children’s Museum

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Now housed at the American Museum of Science and Energy, the National Park Service will move its visitor center and offices in Oak Ridge to the Children’s Museum in October, officials said Friday, June 16, 2017. (Submitted photo)

 

The National Park Service will move its visitor center and offices in Oak Ridge to the Children’s Museum in October, officials said Friday.

The National Park Service has a visitor center and offices in Oak Ridge as part of the Manhattan Project National Historical Park, a three-site park that was established in November 2015 after years of advocacy.

The visitor center and offices are now located at the American Museum of Science and Energy, or AMSE, on South Tulane Avenue. But that museum is closing as part of a land transfer related to the Main Street Oak Ridge development.

“We have been so fortunate to have been based at AMSE for the first 18 months of this new national historical park,” said Kris Kirby, Manhattan Project National Historical Park superintendent. “The staff and volunteers have been outstanding partners providing space and backup support with all of our activities. We consider the entire City of Oak Ridge to be part of the park and will continue to offer programming in multiple locations throughout the area.” [Read more…]

Eight new Main Street stores could be turned over to retailers by end of June

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Eight new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge could be turned over to retailers by the end of June, a city consultant said Tuesday, May 2, 2017. Under construction above are the new Dick’s Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx stores. These are the entrances closest to South Illinois Avenue. The U.S. Post Office is to the left, and Walmart is to the right. (Photo by John Huotari/Oak Ridge Today)

 

Note: This story was last updated at 12 p.m.

Eight new stores at Main Street Oak Ridge could be turned over to retailers by the end of June, a city consultant said Tuesday, but the opening dates for the eight new stores haven’t been announced yet.

Ray Evans, retail consultant for the City of Oak Ridge, gave an update on the Main Street Oak Ridge project during a Tuesday morning Rise and Shine event sponsored by the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce at Countryside Tire and Auto Service.

Two buildings with six retailers are scheduled to be delivered to retailers between mid-May and the end of May, Evans said. One building will include the new Dick’s Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx stores, and another will include Maurice’s, Rack Room Shoes, Rue 21, and Ulta. Workers are preparing to pave the parking lot at Dick’s Sporting Goods and T.J. Maxx, Evans said. [Read more…]

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

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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…]