Ever since the atomic-energy research center at Oak Ridge, Tenn., was established in 1943, the community has been anxious about its schools. This year the population numbers 31,000, of whom 7,000 are now in school, mostly in the upper elementary grades. But another 7,000 are of pre-school age, so that in the near future, 45 per cent of those who live at Oak Ridge will be in school. A high-school building erected in 1943 was not big enough to house the expected high-school enrollment, so the Atomic Energy Commission, the architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings, & Merrill, and Oak Ridge school officials got together to figure out the next step. Last week, the result was unveiled at an open house sponsored by parents and teachers: a bright, new, $3,000,000 high school that was a dream in glass.
Entirely paid for by Federal funds, the school was undoubtedly the most modern, the most functional, and one of the most attractive educational buildings in the South and Southeast. More than 1,300 high-school students are now using it, and it can accommodate 1,600.
But Oak Ridge High is more than an educational plant, for it doubles as a much-needed community center. In addition to taking care of the adults (last year there were 1,000) who began evening courses there this week. the school has an auditorium seating more than 1,400. The stage, which with accompanying dressing rooms and restrooms covers 25,916 feet, is so structed that heavy trucks can drive right up a ramp and onto the stage unload scenery.
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Newsweek Magazine | October 1, 1951
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