September 1, 2016 VOLUME 93 | ISSUE 3
BACK TO THE OLD SCHOOL Lifelong arcade fan re-creates the 80s in Lakewood on PAGE 12.
LakewoodSentinel.com A publication of
J E F F E R S O N C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
Heritage Square hangs in balance Old main street halfway demolished while amusement park runs on By Christy Steadman csteadman@coloradocommunitymedia.com
Employees from Larsen Development work on building a ramp for Stephanie and Cedric Logan’s two children during the sixth annual Home Builders Foundation’s Blitz Build on Aug. 26. Photo by Clarke Reader
Opening the door to a new world Blitz Build provides three area homes and an organization with ramps By Clarke Reader creader@coloradocommunitymedia.com Both of Stephanie and Cedric Logan’s children, Naomi and Lazarus, use wheelchairs because of cerebral palsy, a fact that makes daily life more challenging because the family
doesn’t have a ramp entryway to their home. Thanks to the Home Builders Foundation and its sixth annual Blitz Build, they do now. The Logan family’s home was one of four Lakewood addresses and 17 in the metro area to receive free ramps courtesy of the foundation from Aug. 25 through 27. “We start recruiting volunteer teams and recipients in March,” said Beth Forbes, executive director of the Home Builders Foundation. “The cri-
teria for projects are that there must be an accessibility and financial need, the recipient must own the home, and it must be in the eight-county metro area.” The three other Lakewood locations to receive ramps were the new headquarters of The Chanda Plan — a nonprofit dedicated to improving the quality of life for those with disabilities — and the homes of Marcie Little and Trish Riffe. Ramps continues on Page 15
Jeffco may be site of close political fight Candidates, parties will make numerous appearances in county By Clarke Reader creader@coloradocommunitymedia.com Jefferson County has long had the reputation as being a bellwether in elections, and residents can expect to hear and see a lot from local, state and national candidates as Election Day nears. “Jeffco has one of the most diverse voting populations in our state,” said Don Ytterberg, chairman of the Jefferson County Republican Party. “You have chunks of the mountains and foothills on the west side, and more urban areas on the east side of Arvada and Lakewood, as well as Edgewater.” With roughly 566,000 residents — about one-tenth of the entire population of the state — Jefferson is the fourth most populous county in Colorado. It can be said to be a purple county, in which there are a relatively even number of Democrats, often identified as blue, and Republicans, often identified as red, generally with a high number of unaffiliated voters. Among active registered voters in the
With demolition of the old commercial section of Heritage Square half complete, property owner Martin Marietta still does not know what the land will be home to in the future. Although a couple of things are being discussed, there’s “nothing definitive,” said Pete Bovis, the square’s property manager with Martin Marietta. But “residential, big box retail and mining … are not options for the next life of the property,” said Bovis, explaining that’s not the direction the company wants to pursue. Martin Marietta bought Heritage Square — a longtime entertainment and tourist destination at 18301 W. Colfax Ave. — in December 2011. Since the purchase, the company has invested about $1 million on improvements and infrastructure upgrades, said David Hagerman, Martin Marietta’s regional vice president, in a previous interview. Plans to close the square were announced in February 2015 and by October and November of that year most of the businesses had closed. The popular Alpine Slide operated for 37 seasons before it closed on Oct. 11 last year. The slide’s former general manager Debbie Hottinger, who retired after the slide closed, reported that a company that operates a slide in Kentucky bought the sleds and track. All of the lift’s chairs were sold to the general public. The rest of the slide is still in the process of being dismantled, Bovis said. With lease options until 2039, only the Heritage Amusement Park — which includes the Garden Grill restaurant — remains in operation at Heritage Square. As for progress on the total demolition of the square, the project is about 40 Square continues on Page 13
Graphic illustration by Ben Wiebesiek county as of Aug. 1, there were 111,374 Republicans, 109,140 Democrats and 128,938 unaffiliated voters, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office. Colorado has been very important in the past couple elections, not only to the presidential races, but in the U.S. Senate and House contests, because it was unclear which way the state as a whole would go, said John Straayer, a political science professor at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Straayer’s concentration is Colorado and legislative politics. This year, he noted, the mystery
might be gone when it comes to the presidential race. “Everything I’m seeing shows Colorado leaning pretty heavily in favor of the Democrats,” he said. “I look at voter registration data from August 2012 to where we are now, and there’s an increase of about 22,000 Democrats in Jefferson County, and 10,000 Republicans.” Still, the Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder’s Office currently shows roughly 2,000 more active Republican voters than Democrats. Election continues on Page 5
REF ROAD AHEAD Once plentiful, officials are harder to find for footbal games. PAGE 21