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Sunday EDITION
oxfordcitizen.com
Volume 3 | Issue 24
Sunday, July 10, 2016
Inside 3 News
LHS auditorium to get a much-needed facelift.
4 News
CHANING GREEN | OXFORD CITIZEN
City contractors work to dig up an old land fill that lay beneath the vacant lot across the street from the OPC Activity Center in preparation for the relocation of Price Street.
Price Street being relocated to benefit the OPC BY CHANING GREEN NEWS WRITER
Price Street off of Molly Barr is a popular road that sees a lot of traffic in Oxford. The street, which lies directly across from the Oxford Police Department, is currently in the process of being rerouted so that it cuts through the field that lies directly across from the Oxford Park Commission’s Activity Center and comes out about a hundred yards further north down Molly Barr. The vacant lot that the road will be cutting through is actually a garbage dump that has been there, some estimate, for at least 60 years. The garbage that was buried decades ago is currently being excavated in preparation for the road’s relocation. The long buried contents of the landfill are being relocated to the Three Rivers Landfill in Pontotoc. City of Oxford Engineer Bart Robinson said the purpose of the garbage removal is to make the land more viable for future use by the Oxford Park Commission. By diverting the road, the commission will now be able to expand their facilities on
The road is being diverted in order to give the OPC the option of expanding in that direction without having to worry about a busy thoroughfare running through it’s campus. that property. “We are removing the garbage to reclaim the property for future use,” Robinson said in an email to the Citizen. “To make the property more useful, we are relocating Price Street to the north. This relocation will allow for an uninterrupted campus for future use by Park Commission facilities” Neither Robinson nor representatives of the Park Commission were specific as to what actual plans are for the lot other than expansion on parking. The
parking expansion after the road relocation would eliminate the need for those attending a function at the activity center to cross an active road and thereby significantly reduce the chances of an accident occurring. The activity center does have a parking lot on the rear of the building, but it can fill up quickly when a popular event is taking place at the center, which is what forces some of those in attendance to park across the road in the vacant lot.
A representative of the Park Commission said that there are plans in the works to expand the Activity Center, but as to what that expansion entails and whether or not it will be taking place on the vacant lot after the road’s relocation, the representative could not speak to. Robinson said that the project of Price Street’s removal and relocation have been officially in the works for the past 18 months, but have been points of discussion for the city for the last three years. The way the road relocation works with that once the landfill is dug up and relocated, it will be filled it with new dirt. Over that dirt is where the new road will be constructed. Once the road is finished, Price Street will be temporarily closed while they connect the old road to its newest addition. The remaining portion old road will then be destroyed. The contract for the project states that it shall be competed by the end of the year. chaning.green@journalinc.com Twitter: chaningthegreen
Oxford Blues Fest returns to town next weekend.
11 Sports
DJ Jones anchors Rebels’ defensive line.
14 Sports
Freeman all about making tennis fun for area youth.