Voice 1
Lone Tree
November 28, 2013
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourlonetreenews.com
Douglas County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 46
Shuttle proposed for medical corridor Circulator would carry workers, ease congestion By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com Through a public/private partnership, the City of Lone Tree plans to introduce a free circulator shuttle in one of its fastestgrowing commercial areas. If enough businesses get on board with the idea, the service would launch in June. Under the proposal, three 14-passenger buses will circulate along Park Meadows Drive from Sky Ridge Medical Center to the Entertainment District a minimum of 11 hours each work day.
The buses would allow the estimated 4,500 employees there to easily travel the corridor, and bridge the transportation gap for those taking light rail to its southernmost point at Lincoln Station. The already existing congestion on the four-lane thoroughfare will grow with the December opening of Kaiser Permanente’s large multi-specialty center and the late 2014 completion of Charles Schwab’s Lone Tree campus. Visitors and employees to those businesses will join the daily thousands already passing through the doors of Sky Ridge, the University of Colorado’s Lone Tree Health Center, Zynex Medical and restaurants and hotels along the 2½-mile stretch of Park Meadows Drive. Lone Tree is considering introducing
the service as a two-year pilot program. Its estimated annual cost is $540,000. Under the proposed plan created among the city and several other entities, Lone Tree would kick in $250,000 of the annual cost. The city currently is meeting with major employers along the corridor to gauge interest. The Denver South TMA board said Nov. 19 that it would participate in the project. The organization is a partnership of public and private entities in the south Interstate 25 corridor that seeks to improve transportation and boost economic development. City leaders said the fare-free service makes economic sense. “People who use it are going to be paying for it one way or another,” Council-
member Harold Anderson said. “If we have to subsidize it to make it work — absolutely. It’ll just make our community that much better.” Collecting fares impedes a transportation service’s efficiency, and doesn’t significantly offset expenses, they said. “Even in high-transit areas, fare box pay is a very small percentage of cost,” public works director John Cotten said. “We want to encourage people as much as we can to use this and get used to using it.” Mayor Jim Gunning said the partnership could be a model for others. “There are not very many public/private partnerships,” he said. “We are leading the way here with a new model where the private sector is going to come in and pay for some of these generalized services.”
City tree lighting on tap Event will include hot chocolate, sing-along By Jane Reuter
jreuter@ourcoloradonews.com
Centennial residents Marc Behringer and Taylor Wilsey (right foreground) were the first two customers in line for Steak ’n Shake’s grand re-opening Nov. 25 in Centennial. The couple had waited in front of the restaurant in freezing temperatures since 11 p.m. the night before. Photos by George Lurie
Fans flock to Steak ’n Shakes Eateries had been closed due to dispute By George Lurie
glurie@ourcoloradonews.com After being shuttered for months by a dispute between local franchisees and the company’s corporate headquarters, popular Steak ’n Shake restaurants in Centennial and Sheridan reopened this week, attracting large crowds with offers of free food and promises to donate 10 percent of first-week sales to area flood relief. “We invest in the communities we serve, and are pleased to support the local Red Cross chapter by giving back to those affected by the recent flooding,” said Jim Flaniken, senior vice president of marketing for the Indianapolis-based company. For Centennial residents Marc Behringer and Taylor Wilsey, the best news of all: The restaurant chain was offering the first 100 customers to dine at the Centennial and Sheridan locations on Nov. 25 free Steak ’n Shake for a year. On reopening day, Behringer and Wilsey were the first two people standing in a long line that snaked around the Centennial restaurant and across the adjacent parking lot. The couple had claimed the pole position by showing up the previous evening at 11 p.m. and camping outside the front
door in blustery, subfreezing temperatures. “It was a little chilly,” Behringer admitted. “But we had fun. Now we’ll be able to eat free Steak ’n Shake for the next year.” Wilsey agreed. “I got hooked on their food in Florida. I used to go to Steak ’n Shake every time I visited my grandmother there,” she said. Steak ’n Shake corporate will manage and operate the Centennial and Sheridan locations. Both restaurants will be open 24 hours a day. The Centennial restaurant is located at 8271 S. Quebec Street. The Sheridan restaurant is located at 3502 River Point Parkway. In recent weeks, the company has hired more than 140 new employees. In business since 1934, Steak ’n Shake operates more than 500 restaurants around the country, with many located in the South and Midwest. The Centennial and Sheridan restaurants have been in the headlines in recent months, closed since late summer by a tangle of lawsuits filed after the franchise owner ignored a corporate directive and charged higher prices for certain menu items. The metro-area’s only two Steak ’n Shake franchises had been owned by Kathryn and Larry Baerns and their son Christopher. The Baernses opened Colorado’s first
Steak ’n Shake in Centennial in 2011, investing a reported $4 million to secure a 20-year lease as well as the option to open as many as a dozen more Denver-area locations. But in September of this year, a judge ordered the Baernses to stop operating under the Steak ’n Shake banner because of an ongoing, increasingly contentious disagreement with the corporate office over pricing of menu items. At one point, the dispute prompted Steak ’n Shake corporate to cut off the computerized cash register systems in Centennial and Sheridan. This summer, a Denver judge stepped into the fray and granted the Baernses a temporary restraining order, forcing the company to bring the Centennial and Sheridan restaurants back online. But after the restraining order expired in early September, the corporate office once again withdrew its technical support and the Baernses were forced to close their restaurants again. Although the two parties remain embroiled in legal action over damage claims by the Baernses, last month the company announced it had reached an agreement with the family to take over the two Denver-area locations. In their most recent press release, Steak ’n Shake officials made no mention of the ongoing legal issues. Steak continues on Page 8
For the second year in a row, the Lone Tree Arts Center Guild will mark the start of the Christmas season by lighting an 18-foot Christmas tree at the center. This year, they’ve added a community sing-along to the 5 p.m. Nov. 30 community celebration that also will include professional carolers, an elf and hot chocolate for all. “This is the Lone Tree Arts Center’s holiday kickoff,” guild president Maggie Eichenlaub said. “We’re hoping it’s a really high-spirited event and sing-along.” The guild also will present LTAC executive director Lisa Peterson with a $10,000 donation. The tree will stand on the top tier of the center’s Terrace Theater, located on the north side of the building near the Super Target. “Last year, it was sitting down lower; I think this’ll be more dramatic,” Eichenlaub said. The event is open to the public and follows the sold-out Nov. 30 afternoon arts center presentation of “Scenes from The Nutcracker.” The guild is donating the tree and decorations and sponsoring the event. “We’re planning to make this one of our guild traditions in support of the arts center,” Eichenlaub said. “It’s one of our signature events of the year.” The three-year-old organization has about 70 members. The Lone Tree Arts Center Guild is a nonprofit organization whose members support the center through fundraising and volunteer work.
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