This month, Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Tom Coburn, R-Okla., issued a "Stimulus Checkup" which cast a critical eye on 100 projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
No. 1 on the list? A grant worth up to $5 million for a geothermal technology demonstration project at the Oak Ridge Mall.
The senators' report said that Oak Ridge Mayor Tom Beehan "has supported a local experiment to turn a struggling shopping mall into an economic engine by converting it into one of the greenest malls in the area. Only, the problem is that the mall has few shoppers and fewer stores."
The grant was announced in November, and the senators' report cited news accounts including a recent News Sentinel story that described the mall as almost empty. That story said the goal of the project was to reduce the front-end costs of geothermal heat pump systems.
A representative of the mall's leasing agent said at the time that the heat pumps should trim energy costs by 40 to 60 percent, and that the savings should lure prospective tenants.
Continue reading: Senators rank Oak Ridge mall project as most iffy on stimulus spending list.
Call Josh Flory at 865-342-6994.
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