Members of the community recently broke ground for a first-of-a-kind community enrichment center in the Scarboro community made possible by a $2.4 million Community Capacity Building Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management.
Office of Environmental Management
September 29, 2026
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Community members break ground for the new Elks Community Enrichment Center in the Scarboro community funded by a U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management grant.
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. — Members of the community recently broke ground for a first-of-a-kind community enrichment center in the Scarboro community made possible by a $2.4 million Community Capacity Building Grant from the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM).
“This groundbreaking is so much more than shifting soil,” Maria Catron, executive director of the Oak Ridge Housing Authority (ORHA), said of the Elks Community Enrichment Center. “It’s laying a foundation for a future that is the culmination of years of shared vision, rigorous planning and unwavering commitment to the Scarboro community. We don’t just see a construction site — we see opportunity, progress and partnership.”
The Atomic Elks Lodge 1301, which will manage the new center, and several community partners, including the ORHA Development Corporation, the nonprofit arm of ORHA, worked together on the funding and plans for the new building after Oak Ridge Office of EM cleanup contractor United Cleanup Oak Ridge (UCOR) raised awareness about the grant possibility with the Scarboro community.
“UCOR is a great community partner,” Catron said. “UCOR continually looks for opportunities where they can be engaged in community and dollars can be used on behalf of community revitalization.”
A rendering of the future Elks Community Enrichment Center.
The community center will offer new opportunities and services to the Scarboro community. Among them will be medical care, a training center, community gatherings, an entrepreneurial incubator space and a place to preserve Scarboro history.
“The Lodge had already established a relationship with the Free Medical Clinic of Oak Ridge,” Catron said. “Two clinic rooms there will be managed and operated by the Free Medical Clinic as a satellite location.”
The Elks Lodge has invited DOE contractors and subprime contractors to provide training for Scarboro residents in a computer lab and training center in the new community building.
“We would like employers to use that classroom space for training purposes in hopes of creating employment opportunities for people in the Scarboro community,” Catron said, adding that the community center will also offer space for neighborhood gatherings for about 80-100 people.
“Then there is an entrepreneurial incubator space for startup business opportunities, for someone who may want to start a pop-up bakery or coffee shop,” she said.
A view of community members participating in the Elks Community Enrichment Center groundbreaking in the Scarboro community of Oak Ridge.
The Architecture Collaborative of Knoxville serves as the design and architect firm. Evans-Ailey Construction Co. of Powell was awarded the contract for the new community center.
The EM grant program focuses on reinvesting in communities impacted by decades of nuclear defense and research missions, and currently hosting environmental cleanup sites. It also aims to strengthen relationships with communities by supporting projects that serve community and economic development goals by promoting revitalization and restoration efforts and best community engagement practices.
-Contributor: David Sheeley
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