Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association             September 11, 2008

 Minutes – Monthly Meeting

Attendance: Howard Harvey, Bobbie Martin, Irene Pinkston, Bill Tewes, Bill Wilcox, Lloyd Stokes, Betty Stokes, Bill Henry, J. D. Hutchins, Paul Spray, Mary Ann Damos, Anne McBride, Margaret Allard, Ray Smith, Gordon Fee, Mick Wiest, Andre Petrov, Martin McBride and Cindy Kelly.

The meeting began at 7:05 PM in the Wildcat Den Room of the Midtown Community Center.  There were 19 people present (see attachment 1 on file.)

ORHPA Board Member, Betty Stokes presided at the meeting.  Betty invited members present to make announcements.

Bill Tewes invited everyone to take a look at some archival items he had discovered and brought to the meeting.  They included 1945 and 1946 photos of the S.E.D. showing S.A.M. Laboratories at Columbia University.  He also brought his wife’s dance card from the S.E.D. final dinner dance for December 10, 1945.

Mick Wiest announced his Historic Properties Committee would be meeting on Friday, September 12 at 12:30 p.m. to finalize preparations for the seventh annual “Preservation Awards” to be given by ORHPA on September 19, 2008. This is the 66^th birthday of the day that General Groves decided to place the Kingston Demolition Range in what was to become Oak Ridge. (Note: the awards were presented to the “Christ Community Church” originally called the Ogden Shopping Center and to the “Oak Ridge Playhouse” originally known as the “Center Theatre” on the afternoon of September 19, 2008. We are very appreciative of TN BANK sponsoring the award plaques.)

Bill Wilcox introduced Cindy Kelly of the Atomic Heritage Foundation.  Cindy has been working with us since 2003 on the Partnership for K-25 Preservation Project.  Cindy is leaving copies of her annual report with us.  She also thanked all ORHPA members who have worked so hard to provide education to the public as bus tour leaders for the last two years at the Secret City Festival.

Lloyd Stokes reported the Oak Ridge Secret City Festival recently received the special distinction of being rated one of the top 100 festivals in the nation.

Betty Stokes introduced our guest speaker for the evening, Mary Ann Damos.  Mary Ann is the Director of the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge.  Mary Ann was the Deputy Director of Education for the Children’s Museum and a self employed grant writer before becoming the Director of the Children’s’ Museum two years ago.  

Mary Ann commented that the Children’s Museum currently has over 20,000 artifacts in its collection and they cover 54,000 square feet of space.  The focus of the museum exhibits is on social and historical events rather than science. They emphasize intergenerational learning and celebrate the “work of children” which is, of course, “play.” They try to pull children into the timeline of each exhibit and encourage the children to have a “hands on” experience within each exhibit.

The museum is now 35 years old. The current annual attendance for the museum is about 37,000. They are a United Way organization.  Funding from United Way covers their after school program which has two teachers associated with it. Mary Ann reported that their annual International Festival is one of the most popular activities on their calendar of events and it is attended by children of every age, young and old alike. The museum is very blessed to have many volunteers working with them.

The newest exhibit being readied for opening on November 8 is the Appalachian Heritage Project.  In the future the museum will be developing resources on line including digitizing documents and oral histories as well.  The museum is a very important “Heritage Tourism” destination in this part of Tennessee.

Mary Ann commented that the Museum’s Board of Directors has looked at their 65 year old building and assessed their future needs. They have had a feasibility study done to prepare for a future capital campaign and are working with architects to help evaluate the possibilities for renovating their current structure.  They are interested in saving as much of the original Highland View Elementary School as possible while still implementing new safety additions like handicapped access to the building and exhibits, improved parking areas, new plumbing and air conditioning and heating systems.  The design firm they are working with is also helping them consider a new façade for the building since most of the original outer front of the building has already been altered (windows removed and wooden siding replaced.) One of their goals is to keep one of the classrooms intact, just as it was in the 1940’s. They would also like to create an environmental learning center on the back side of the current museum and plan to have a healthy living exhibit to teach children about nutrition and good health.

Overall, the plans being developed for the future have been in direct response to the children of the community and are aimed at making the Children’s Museum a more comfortable, inviting and safe environment for children to have fun learning.

Mick Wiest, chairman of the ORHPA Historic Properties Committee, suggested that his committee would be happy to provide assistance to the Children’s Museum when they are ready to make decisions about the outer appearance of their building and its context in the community as an historic property.

Betty Stokes thanked Mary Ann Damos for coming to speak to us and presented her with a copy of the ORHPA reprinted book by George O. Robinson, “The Oak Ridge Story.”

Our next ORHPA meeting with be on October 2 at 7 p.m. (one week earlier than usual.) Our guest speaker on October 2 will be Dr. Thomas H. Scott, our city’s preeminent firefighting history buff.  Tom is a veteran volunteer firefighter and hobbyist who will be talking with us about the “History of Firefighting in Oak Ridge.”

The meeting adjourned at 8:10 p.m.             

Minutes Respectfully Submitted,

Anne McBride, Secretary

Oak Ridge Heritage and Preservation Association

September 28, 2008