Event
Tennis Court Dance (Oak Ridge, TN)
Fee:
Free.Location: LAT/LONG: 36.026984, -84.243112
Dances are held on the Jackson Square Tennis Court, corner of Michigan Avenue and Broadway Ave, Oak Ridge, TN 37830. Public parking is available along Broadway Avenue and in Jackson Square.
Repeating Event
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Type of Event
All Programs for Oak Ridge, TN are in the Eastern Time Zone.
Description
Outdoor recreation was essential for Oak Ridge residents’ morale during the Manhattan Project. An entire department, the Recreation and Welfare Association, was create to organize programs for workers and their families. Tennis courts, baseball diamonds and a pool were built. Tennis courts, however, were used for more than just tennis. Being one of the few places in town that was paved, tennis courts were ideal for dancing on warm summer nights when recreation halls were too hot.
The Tennessee Eastman Girls Club requested that William “Bill” Pollock, a Tennessee Eastman engineer, hold a dance at the tennis courts. Bill had previously wired the cafeteria, recreation halls and other buildings throughout town for music in his free time. The first tennis court dance was July 22, 1944, at 8:30 pm. They became a weekly event.
Join the park for this all ages event all summer long.
Reservation or Registration: No
Image Gallery
US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY / ED WESTCOTT