Citizen Centennial 10-11-2013
Centennial
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 47
Main squeeze
October 11, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourcentennialnews.com
42-acre ‘urban center’ planned City council approves Jones District near I-25 By George Lurie
glurie@ourcoloradonews.com
Peter Kron of the band Die Edelsteiner entertains the crowd with his accordion play during German Day in Colorado on Oct. 5. This was the first year that the annual event — which features music, dancing, food and more — was held at Centennial Center Park. Photo by Chris Rotar
Making the difference of life and death Local heroes honored by Arapahoe sheriff ’s office By Ryan Boldrey
rboldrey@ourcoloradonews.com Sometimes instinct just takes over, and when it does, lives can be saved. Meet Richard Mandeville, Daniel Bertram and Troy Steadman, who just happened to be in the right place at the right time, and because of it, will now watch two young boys grow up to become men. Mandeville, a 47-year-old airline pilot from Highlands Ranch, was enjoying a 90-degree, sunny afternoon with his 6-yearold son Jack at Cherry Creek State Park on Sept. 7, when he saw two women in full burqas, running down the beach screaming, pointing to the water shortly before 6 p.m. “The first thing I thought was that is a lot of clothes on for it being so hot,” he said. “They were about 50 yards down the beach, and I looked and saw Daniel coming in with the two boys and just looked at my son and said `follow me now.’” Bertram, a Centennial resident and 2006 graduate of Arapahoe High School, had been at the beach that day with Steadman and some friends. Upon seeing where 5-year-old boys Mutasem Masoud and Ibrahim Bdawi had become submerged, he pulled them both out of the water and raced to shore with a boy over each arm. It’s the stuff movies are made of. Bertram laid them down and Steadman and Mandeville, who had sprinted onto the scene with his son trailing behind, each began administering CPR. Mandeville had first learned CPR in the 1980s as a cadet at the Air Force Academy, but didn’t think he would ever have to use it. Retrained and certified a year and a half ago, he said instinct just took over. Ten minutes later, amidst panic and yell-
Back row from left: Troy Steadman, Richard Mandeville and Daniel Bertram enjoy a reunion with 5-year-olds Ibrahim Bdawi, left, and Mutasem Masoud Oct. 1 at the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office. The three men were responsible for saving the two boys Sept. 7 at Cherry Creek Reservoir after the boys began to drown. Photo by Ryan Boldrey
“I’m just a guy that had CPR training that was on a beach with his son and ran to help two boys in need. Somehow it all worked out.” Richard Mandeville ing from family members, the boys were coughing up water and vomiting. “They were literally dead,” said Bertram, who has since signed up to take CPR, saying he saw firsthand the difference it can make. That difference is life and death, he said, encouraging everyone to take a course. “I’m not a hero, I’m not Superman,” said Mandeville after the three were recognized with life-saving medals by the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office Oct. 1 in a personal ceremony that involved the boys. “I’m just
a guy that had CPR training that was on a beach with his son and ran to help two boys in need. Somehow it all worked out.” For those two boys and their families, however, Mandeville, as well as Steadman and Bertram, are nothing but heroes. “They changed all our lives,” said Abdelsalam Masoud, father of Mutasem. “I thank God for sending them at the right time and that they knew CPR. ... The gratitude we feel today will stay with us for the rest of our lives.”
City council has given the green light to a proposed 1.8-million-square-foot, mixed-use project that will be the city’s single largest commercial development. Following its first public hearing on Oct. 7, the city council unanimously approved rezoning and development agreements for The Jones District, a 42-acre “urban center” development that cable and onlineuniversity entrepreneur Glenn Jones plans to build on a large parcel he owns near East Mineral Avenue and Interstate 25. Plans were submitted this past March for the ambitious project, which could cost more than $200 million to build out over a period of 20 to 25 years and will include commercial, retail and residential components in buildings up to 15 stories tall. The proposed development had a favorable hearing before the city’s planning and zoning commission on Aug. 28. Following the OK from council, Mayor Cathy Noon said: “This project is a large, wellthought-out, cohesive development with magnificent potential” and will be a boon for future city tax revenues. Being designed by Barber Architecture Corp. of Denver, The Jones District will be built around a “central green” public space and will feature wide sidewalks and a planned connection to the Dry Creek light rail station. Architect Michael Barber told city councilors Oct. 7 that his firm has been working with Jones on the project for the past 19 months. The proposed development site, which is adjacent to Jones International University’s headquarters and just north of IKEA along I-25, is the city’s largest undeveloped parcel of land under single ownership. Mary Bliss, Jones’ vice president for real estate and facilities, said: “This is the highest and best use for the land and a Class A project we will all be proud of.” Explaining that the development’s pedestrian-friendly street grid and numerous public spaces will emphasize “walkability,” Bliss added: “We’re looking to create a lively nighttime community, one that doesn’t go dark at 5 o’clock.” The project will be Centennial’s largest private commercial venture to date, dwarfing The Streets of SouthGlenn, which is just over 1 million square feet. Made up mostly of office buildings “compatible in scale with the surrounding buildings to the west,” Barber said the development would also contain “ground floor retail” and possibly a hotel adjacent to I-25. The entire development, Barber added, Center continues on Page 8
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