Volume 31 • Number 52 • November 21, 2013
What’s Inside Page 4
Broncos break ground on new indoor training facility
303-773-8313 • Published every Thursday
Centennial to cover parkstage
Pages 18-19
Arapahoe’s historical touchstones
www.villagerpublishing.com
Cherry Creek turnovers result in playoff loss Page 23
An artist’s rendering shows plans for a cover over the amphitheater stage at Centennial Center Park. Courtesy of City of Centennial
Project to be finished by Memorial Day
Don’t Miss:
makes its mark in • Graffiti South Suburban parks Page 3 Hills Joint Public Safety • Cherry Facility wins award Page 6 Village approves • Greenwood AMG National Trust Bank construction
Page 7
Index
Page 5..................................Opinion Page 8............................. Classifieds Pages 13-24........ Holiday Gift Guide Pages 25-29..........................Legals Page 34..................................School
TheVillagerNewspaper @VillagerDenver
By Peter Jones With the luck Centennial has had with weather during summer events, the stage in Center Park could use a cover, and by next summer it will have one. City Council has unanimously approved a plan to have a protective stage cover in place by Memorial Day 2014 in time for a busy schedule of events that is slated to begin at the popular summer destination.
The project also includes some electrical upgrades and other improvements to a stage that has already hosted a reggae festival, a range of local bands and a welcome-home celebration for Centennial Olympian Missy Franklin. Money for the project will come from the city’s share of Arapahoe County Open Space Shareback funds. Bassett & Associates and Eidos Architects will design and construct the improvements as the result of a competitive bidding process. “The design goal is to complement the Center Park design
theme and features while taking advantage of the mountain views,” a city staff report reads. The cover could incorporate such materials as fabric, steel, concrete and wood, though that decision has yet to be made. Requests for restrooms and dressing rooms will not be part of this upgrade. “However, accommodation can be made in the overflow parking lot for the trailers and coaches performers utilize so that we can continue to attract top performers to the venue,” the report says. Cost of the project will not ex-
ceed $750,000. The award-winning 11-acre Center Park, adjacent to Centennial Civic Center, can accommodate up to 3,000 people for lawn seating. The stage cover is expected to increase rental revenues for the park amphitheater. The Wailers headlined a reggae festival in the park last year. Centennial Under the Stars, a multi-themed summer celebration, was also planned by the city as the signature event for the park, but was canceled due to torrential rains shortly after the event began.
New Englewood Campus ready for first classes
High school students to take their seats next month
By Peter Jones School bells are about to ring at the new Englewood Campus. Phase 1 of the school district’s much-touted combined middle school and high school is complete. Beginning next month, Englewood High School students will begin utilizing the $44 million state-of-the-art campus. A year later, the district’s middle school students plan to move in. At that point, the two sets of students will essentially change places. Seventh and eighth graders will take over the campus’s north end when the high school’s Phase 2 is complete in December 2014. Englewood Leadership Academy, the district’s small school of choice, will also be part of the 238,000-squre-foot campus. A total of about 1,000 students will eventually be in the building. “It’ll be a little bit messy for Continued on page 2
Englewood Schools Superintendent Brian Ewert tours one of the new state-of-the-art science classrooms at the Englewood Campus. Photo by Peter Jones