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Library has brand-new groove
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From the desk of...
Paid for by: Carlyn Obr inger for Concord City FPPC# 1324644. Council 2016,
October 21, 2016
925.672.0500
TAMARA STEINER Concord Pioneer
LAuRA HOffMEiSTER
mayOr
CNWS Citizens Advisory Selection
New uses for the Concord Naval Weapons Station will provide many positive, long-lasting benefits for the people of Concord. After the base was closed in 2005, residents, stakeholders and the City came together over several years to decide how the property should be developed. After seven years of meetings and public workshops, and with the oversight of a 21-member advisory committee, the Concord Community Reuse Project Area Plan was adopted in 2012. Now that we are getting closer to actually developing the land on the base, the City Council has decided it’s time to appoint a new Community Advisory Committee. This CAC will provide input and encourage public participation during the development of a Specific Plan for the first phase of development of the base. We received 115 applications for the CAC and are delighted by the large turnout. Our next task will be to decide on 22 finalists, and eventually 11 members and three alternates. Appointments to the committee will be made using the following criteria: diversity and breadth of interest, broad representation of the community, geographic balance, familiarity with the adopted Reuse Area Plan understanding of the CAC function and role, and commitment to Reuse Project goals and guiding principles. Terms will expire on December 31, 2018. The committee will meet monthly. By state law, applicants who live within 500 feet of the project may have a disqualifying con-
See Mayor, page 9
tamara Steine/COnCOrd PiOneer
mileS Hall, 4, Of COnCOrd wOnderS if He Can add One mOre PieCe to his Lego tower at the renovated Concord Library. Meanwhile, Simone Chen, 3, also of Concord builds something “secret” at the other end of the table.
After being closed for renovations Aug. 22-Sept. 6, the Concord Library is open and sporting a new look. The dark, musty, outworn bookshelves and furniture that screamed “last century” have been replaced with light, color and open community spaces. “It was a big year for the Concord Library,” senior community library manager Kimberli Buckley told the City Council in a presentation on Oct. 11. New paint, carpet and seating provide an overall lighter, neater environment. New furniture, lower bookshelves and bright rugs create inviting community spaces in the children’s areas, Teen Zone and the Spanish collection. The Teen Zone is outfitted in shades of red, black and yellow and features a combination of high tables, bean bags and comfortable chairs.
See Library, page 4
It’s hot, it’s urban and it’s the place to be PEGGY SPEAR Concord Pioneer
“It” is the city of Concord, recently ranked by one of the nation’s largest moving companies as the number one growth city in the U.S. In 2015, Americans moved to many cities in the west, many of them in California, according to new data from the U-Haul moving company. All cities were considered, regardless of size, and Concord even beat out Manhattan. For many civic leaders, this growth comes as no surprise. “We’re a great location, close to freeways, BART and with a great quality of life,” says Concord’s Economic Development and Housing
Manager John Montagh. The city seems to be experiencing a rapid growth spurt, on both the residential and commercial sides of the coin. Earlier this month, with great fanfare, city leaders drove shovels into the dirt for the ceremonial groundbreaking of on the Legacy Partners and SyRES Properties 180-unit Renaissance Square Phase 2 apartment complex, located on Galindo Street, and part of the current 875 units of multifamily development either under construction approved or proposed for the city. Besides the city of Concord’s housing spurt, it is looking at 385,000 square feet of commercial and retail service space and 297,000 square feet
Rendering courtesy SVA Architects
COnCOrd Village, a five-story, 231-unit complex slated for Willow Pass and East Streets is just one of several apartment buildings downtown Concord will see in the next few months.
of office/medical/industrial/ “Concord is a good place now we’re seeing the fruits of public sector/service space, to invest right now,” Montagh our labor.” according to the city’s Current says. “We planted the investProjects Report. ment seeds two years ago, and See City, page 7
Concord company rises from the ashes KARA NAVOLIO Concord Pioneer
Tamara Steine/Concord Pioneer
Sam Clar OffiCe furniture, one of the oldest family owned businesses in the Bay Area, is back in business after a Thanksgiving Day fire destroyed the Concord store. Owner, John Schwartz, standing, meets with his project coordinator Randy Johnson and account executive Andy Armosino who has been with the company for 30 years.
John Schwartz had just finished his Thanksgiving meal in 2015, when the phone rang. His business – the business his great-grandfather started 76 years ago — was on fire. He rushed out the door, expecting to find a small fire already extinguished. Instead, he saw huge plumes of smoke rising into the night sky off Highway 680, in the location of Sam Clar, his office furniture business on Diamond Way in Concord. Firefighters helped them retrieve computer servers, but everything else was lost—including the warehouse, inventory and their office space. The investigation of the blaze was not
conclusive, but it is suspected that a squirrel chewing through electrical wires may have ignited it. Schwartz knew that his company would survive this obstacle. As a 5-year-old, he had seen his dad recover this same business from a fire 43 years ago. Schwartz’s greatgrandfather established the business in Oakland in 1939. His father took over in 1973, and a coffee pot that was accidentally left on brought the business down to ashes that same year. Schwartz’s father built the business back up and opened the Concord showroom in 1977. By 1992, shortly after John started working alongside his father, they established Concord as the company’s headquarters. In 1996, Schwartz took over leadership and has built it into a
$15 million business with 30 employees. With his father as an example, rebuilding was the only option for Schwartz. Within 10 days, the business was up and running, remotely, with employees working from home. Within four months, they found a new
See Sam Clar, page 3
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From the desk of . . . . . .9 School News . . . . . . . .18 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10
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