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March 7, 2014 Arapahoe County, Colorado | Volume 13, Issue 15 A publication of
centennialcitizen.net
Getting warmed up for spring
CU plans to offer classes in area
Expansion to change higher learning in south metro Denver By Chris Michlewicz
cmichlewicz@coloradocommunitymedia.com
A group of children frolic on a warm early March afternoon at Center Park in Centennial. Temperatures were expected to climb into the 60s by week’s end. Photo by George Lurie
Funds OK’d for amphitheater work Project still on track for completion by Memorial Day
Classes continues on Page 14
By George Lurie
glurie@coloradocommunitymedia.com Centennial’s city council this week approved spending $1.12 million to cover the stage and make other improvements to the amphitheater in Center Park. At its March 3 meeting, the council voted 8-to-1 to approve the design/build contract related to construction of the improvements, which are already well underway and expected to be completed by Memorial Day. Funding for the project comes from the City’s Open Space and Conservation Trust Funds. In November 2013, the council approved a preliminary $750,000 contract with Bassett & Associates, the general contractor on the project. That contract only included construction of the stage cover itself. District 2 Councilor Doris Truhlar, who took office this past January, was the only council member to vote against spending the additional money on the amphitheater project. “I’ve always been opposed to covering the amphitheater unless someone could show me it could pay for itself,” Truhlar said after the vote. “It’s a money thing. I was being consistent with what I said when I was campaigning. An awful lot of money has been spent on this park.” The additional work covered in the amended contract approved March 3 includes: • Construction of a “loading pathway” to the amphitheater. • Building a sound mixer platform. • Installing permanent lighting for the stage cover and field elements in the amphitheater lawn. In a staff report delivered to council on March 3, City Planner Heather Vidlock
The University of Colorado has announced an expansion plan that will transform The Wildlife Experience and higher education in the south metro area. More than 7,400 square feet of exhibit space on the second floor of The Wildlife Experience, an education-and-conservation-focused museum on Lincoln Avenue east of Interstate 25, will be turned into classroom space. Nearly 4,000 square feet in the basement will house a simulation lab for nursing students. The university, with assistance from its Denver and Anschutz campuses, is planning to offer a broad range of programs in business, addiction counseling, computer forensics, nursing and engineering. Classes are set to begin this fall and, at least in the beginning, will be aimed at professional audiences. There will be a balance of undergraduate and graduate-level courses. Don Elliman, chancellor of CU-Denver and the Anschutz Medical Campus, said museum officials proposed the idea of expansion to the university more than a year ago. Although it had not been considering a move into south metro Denver, university leaders “thought about it pretty seriously” and conducted a market assessment. “The conclusion of the assessment was
Council gets ‘social’ training March 3 session spotlights Facebook, Twitter By George Lurie
glurie@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Construction continues on the project to cover the stage of the Center Park amphitheater. On March 3, city council approved a $1.12 million design/build contract with Bassett & Associates. The project is slated to be finished by Memorial Day, just in time for the park’s busy summer season. Photo by George Lurie wrote, “it was understood that additional contracts for other elements of the entire amphitheater project would be presented to council in the future as design was completed.” “As we have been receiving more detailed pricing [from Bassett], the project as a whole is nearer the top end of the budget than we would like to operate within in terms of the amount of contingency [funds],” Vidlock told councilors before the vote, prompting staff to later recommend councilors consider increasing the project’s budget by $50,000 — from $1.35 million to $1.4 million — in order to have a contingency fund for what Planner Jeff Brasel described as “unanticipated changes that may pop up.” During this week’s meeting, Councilmember Stephanie Piko, who was on the original council subcommittee overseeing the park’s design and construction, said, “We weren’t sure what would happen before we built Center Park. But with the suc-
cess of the park, people have asked for there to be more and more amenities.” Centennial-based Bassett & Associates is teaming with Greenwood Village-based design firm Eidos Architects to complete the project. At the March 3 meeting, representatives from both companies answered questions from council members. And prior to the vote, Piko also reported that she had spoken recently with the principal at Grandview High School, where Bassett is involved in another major project, and that the company had received “rave reviews” for their work — and for keeping that project on time and on budget. The city spent a total of $5.3 million on construction of Center Park, which opened in 2012. “We were taking advantage of a bad economy,” said Mayor Cathy Noon. “I’ve noticed that construction costs and the price of materials have gone back up since then.”
City councilmembers got a crash course in “likes,” “shares” and “tweets” this week. At an hour-long social media training session that took place before the council’s regular March 3 meeting, council members learned about the importance of understanding — and appropriately using — social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. “This training took place at the request of some of our councilmembers,” said Sheri Chadwick, the city’s new communications director. Chadwick said councilmembers asked for the session in order to “review the city’s social media offerings and discuss ways in which social media can be used to engage the public.” “This is a relatively new thing for the city Training continues on Page 14
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