According to Knoxville News-Sentinel’s Frank Munger, “Historic preservation is gaining new momentum in Oak Ridge.”
Munger describes the recent emergency rehabilitation of the historic Alexander Inn as well as a letter from Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Ines Triay that may help Oak Ridge become part of a Manhattan Project National Historical Park.
The article also describes the status of the K-25 plant, which is in imminent danger of demolition. The plant, which used gaseous diffusion to separate isotopes of uranium for the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima, employed thousands of workers and was the prototype for later Cold War-era plants that produced fuel for nuclear energy reactors domestically and abroad. The west wing of the mile-long, U-shaped plant has already been taken down and demolition is scheduled to begin on the North End in June 2011. Last week, the Tennessee Preservation Trust named K-25 one of Tennessee’s ten most endangered historic sites. There is still hope that a small sliver of the plant may be saved for future generations.
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