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November 6, 2014 VO LUME 1 26 | IS S UE 1 5 | 7 5 ¢
LittletonIndependent.net
A R A P A H O E C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O A publication of
WHAT’S INSIDE
City leaders get view to a brew
Prison for mother’s murder: Littleton man sentenced to 32 years. See Page 7
‘The Art of Water’: For area painters, the coast is the most. See Page 17
Crews are hard at work to get Breckenridge Brewery ready for a spring 2015 grand opening. Photos by Jennifer Smith
Breckenridge Brewery should open in the spring By Jennifer Smith
jsmith @coloradocommunitymedia.com
Lions fall short: Littleton High’s football team misses the playoffs. See Page 26
POSTAL ADDRESS
“We’re excited to welcome you here,” Breckenridge Brewery’s Todd Thibault told a group of Littleton city officials before giving them a tour of the construction site on Oct. 28. “We’re more excited to have you here,” quipped Mayor Phil Cernanec in return. Thibault expects the brewery to open in the spring of 2015. It will employ about 100 people, with another 80 to 100 working in the restaurant. The facility has the capacity to keep 200 kegs at a time brewing. Thibault said it will likely be summer 2015 before the first batches will be available for sale, though its current facility has plenty to keep customers happy until then. “The brewers will kind of need to learn the quirks of the system,” he said. Designed to complement the
rural feel of the river corridor, plans include a hops field in the foreground, a rustic farmhouse restaurant with 300 seats, general store and a sunny beer garden. It will boast an energy-recovery system, solar lighting and water-reclamation processes, among other green features. Thibault said an old smokestack on the property will remain as a feature of the outdoor beer garden, serving to anchor the site to its farmland heritage. It will contribute sales taxes to the city coffers from restaurant sales and the general store, but it’s largely an industrial development that manufactures craft beers and sells them wholesale across the country. In 2012, it produced 52,000 barrels of beer, ranging from its popular Vanilla Porter to its seasonal Christmas Ale. The new facility will allow for production to increase to more than 120,000 barrels. Brew continues on Page 13
Jim Cole checks out the 400-barrel fermenters where Breckenridge Brewery’s brews will wait to be served.
Sides struggle to win minds on urban renewal LITTLETON INDEPENDENT OFFICE: 7315 S. Revere Pkwy., Ste. 603 Centennial, CO 80112
Forum on issue fills Arapahoe Community College cafeteria
PHONE: 303-566-4100
By Jennifer Smith
(ISSN 1058-7837) (USPS 315-780)
A legal newspaper of general circulation in Englewood, Colorado, the Littleton Independent is published weekly on Thursday by Colorado Community Media. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT ENGLEWOOD, COLORADO and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: Littleton Independent 7315 S. Revere Pkwy., Ste. 603 Centennial, CO 80112 DEADLINES: Display: Fri. 11 a.m. Legal: Fri. 11 a.m. | Classified: Mon. 5 p.m. G ET SOCIAL WITH US
P L EA SE R ECYC L E T H I S C OPY
jsmith @coloradocommunitymedia.com An Oct. 28 forum on Littleton’s recent urban-renewal efforts did manage to sway the opinions of some nervous citizens, which is exactly what city officials were hoping for. “A high tide raises all ships, and that’s really what this is about,” said Councilmember Debbie Brinkman. A survey of the audience at the beginning of the event indicated only 46 percent of the 300 or so people in the Arapahoe Community College cafeteria believed urban renewal works to improve a city’s economy. By the end, 57 percent said Littleton should use such tactics for economic development. “Most cities play a very strong and active role in economic development,” said City Manager Michael Penny. “… What we get as a community, is that we get these public improvements built.”
The Arapahoe Community College cafeteria was overflowing Oct. 28 with people who wanted to understand more about the city’s urban-renewal plans. Photo by Jennifer Smith One approach of urban renewal is for the authority to share the increased taxes resulting from projects with the developer, but the money has to be spent on public infrastructure like streets and sidewalks. Lakewood used urban renewal under the supervision of former
Mayor Steve Burkholder, and he was there to sing the praises of its results: Replacement of Villa Italia with Belmar, which he says does $200 million a year in retail sales. “Cities never stay the same,” he said. “They either get better or they get worse. How do we honor our heritage and still move forward?”
After some small-group discussions, attendees were asked to briefly state their concerns about Littleton Invests for Tomorrow, more commonly known as LIFT. Common themes were how it would affect small businesses, Development continues on Page 13