update: OAK RIDGE PRESCHOOL project OVERVIEW

July 17, 2017

Updated design concepts for the Oak Ridge Preschool project were presented during a community meeting at the Scarboro Community Center on July 11.

The meeting, the fourth in a series of public forums to discuss plans for the preschool facility that will be built in Scarboro Park, was the last step in the conceptual design process. Architects will now begin work on construction drawings. You can view the full presentation at the link below:

nEW: Oak Ridge Preschool Site Concept

An estimated 45 people were in attendance at the July meeting. Various members of City Council and the Oak Ridge Board of Education have been present at each meeting, along with City staff members and representatives from Studio Four Design, the architectural firm selected for the project.

During a previous meeting in May, two potential site design concepts were presented so that citizens could vote for their favorite. The total vote count was 18 in favor of option one and 13 in favor of option two. The most popular site concept was used to create the rendering and plan presented during the July meeting.

We continue to encourage the community to ask questions and provide suggestions about what they’d like to see with regards to the preschool project and its impact. If you'd like to see some of the comments collected at the community meeting in May, click the link below:

OAK RIDGE PRESCHOOL COMMUNITY INPUT COMMENTS

Please continue to monitor our website for updates on this project. You can also sign up for the City's email newsletter if you have not already done so. We will post news and events related to the preschool in the newsletter as well as online and on social media.

BACKGROUND: Oak Ridge City Council voted during a special-called meeting on March 27, 2017, to select the Scarboro Park site as the location for a new Oak Ridge Preschool. The City of Oak Ridge and Oak Ridge Schools had been working to choose a site for the new preschool for approximately two years. Once the new building is complete, the preschool will relocate from the school administration building on New York Avenue. Members of a committee formed to recommend possible sites looked at city-owned properties and a multitude of factors that would impact future students, their families and the community as a whole. Scarboro Park, the site ultimately selected by City Council and the Board of Education, is across the street from the Scarboro Community Center on Carver Avenue.