Sentinel NORTHGLENN 3/15/13
Northglenn -Thornton
March 14, 2013
50 cents
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ournorthglennnews.com, ourthorntonnews.com
Adams County, Colorado • Volume 49, Issue 31
Mapleton officials seek input on new school Performing arts-based program may be in place by next school year By Darin Moriki
dmoriki@ourcoloradonews.com Mapleton Public Schools officials are considering a plan to create a performing arts school to address future overcrowding concerns and complement the school district’s diverse range of educational approaches. The plan, which was presented to about 20 community members during a March 5 public meeting, calls for the creation of a kindergarten to second grade performing arts school by the 2013-14 school year in the former Mapleton Elementary School building on East 64th Avenue and Washington Street. Superintendent Charlotte Ciancio said
the now vacant building would serve as a temporary space for the school, which is slated to gradually become a kindergarten to 12th grade school as students in the school grow older. Under current plans outlined by the school board, Ciancio said the performing arts school would later relocate to a new site inside the Midtown development, at West 67th Avenue and Pecos Street, as the community grows. Ciancio said the school board decided to focus on creating the performing arts school because none of the district’s 16 schools have a curriculum centered on dance, vocal music, drama, theater, theater production and management and instrumental music. “There’s a lot of research on how performing arts activities … can actually support academic achievement,” Learning Services Director Karla Allenbach said. “Our main goal for this school and for all of our
schools is high academic achievement, so we would use the performing arts to support that.” As a part of the school’s curriculum, Allenbach said a student’s daily schedule would include a two-and-a-half-hour literacy block; one-and-a-half-hour mathematics block; one-hour social studies or science block; and two one-hour performing arts electives block. Board of Education President Norma Frank and Secretary Raymond Garcia said they support the plan and noted that the performing arts school would be the first of its kind in the north metro area. “It’s something that I’ve always wanted, so I’m very excited about it,” Frank said. “We already have some unique schools that give students opportunities without having to pay for it, so I think that will fit into that concept very nicely.” No money has been allocated to fund the school’s construction, but Frank said
Brookfield Homes Colorado — the Englewood-based homebuilder charged with developing the Midtown community — has allocated an undisclosed amount of land to the school district to build a future school. Frank said additional costs, such as purchasing uniforms, instruments, costumes, would be built into the budget over time once plans are finalized. Unincorporated Adams County resident Christine Childs said she supported the proposal but suggested that the plan include a sixth to 12th grade level to meet the needs of older students in the district, including her daughter, Adventure Elementary School sixth grader Taliacyn Childs. “The nice thing about drama is that it fosters learning across all subjects, even though kids may not always realize it,” Christine Childs said. “It’s a really amazing program for any kid even if their goal isn’t to become a performer — these skills will come in handy with anything they go into.”
Store owners say goodbye to Garland By Amy Woodward and Darin Moriki dmoriki@ourcoloradonews.com
Scott Lucas, civil engineer for Galloway, explains the plans for a Walmart Neighborhood Market at Garland Center. Photos by Amy Woodward
Walmart market plans progress By Amy Woodward
newsroom@ourcoloradonews.com Walmart is coming to Northglenn — a move that will spark life into the Garland Center and bring 75 jobs to the city. City and Walmart officials held an open house on March 5 to give residents a chance to learn more about the Garland Center’s redevelopment project. Site plans and building renderings were on display for residents, who glimpsed an upgraded 50-year-old Garland Center. Walmart plans to build a 41,000-squarefoot Neighborhood Market at the center. Officials expect construction to begin later this year with a completion in mid-2014. Northglenn resident Valorie Levigne said the center had been an eye sore and is excited about plans to revitalize it. “I can just walk there,” Levigne said. Some residents expressed concerns about increased traffic on Garland Drive toward Grant Street. Garland Center sits next to a residential area which includes two schools, a park and a church. There will be at least a 16 percent increase in traffic flow along Grant, accordPOSTAL ADDRESS
ing to Curtis Rowe, vice president and traffic engineer at Kimley-Horn and Associates. An additional lane will be constructed on Washington Street to help the flow of traffic during rush hour. Walmart continues on Page 7
Built close to 50 years ago, Garland Center is the city’s oldest retail center. Walmart plans to build a Walmart Neighborhood Market at this site.
To make room for the new Walmart Neighborhood Market, retail stores at the Garland Center will be relocated and the aging infrastructure will be razed. Elegant Ink occupied a space at the center for five years and moved her shop to 11221 Washington St. earlier this month. “I am super happy at the new location and it worked out a lot better,” said Katherine Anne, owner of Elegant Ink. The move has provided more visibility, she said and customers are able to locate her shop better. City officials assisted Anne in relocating her business by covering moving expenses. “They were very helpful,” said Anne. “It was a positive experience for me overall,” she said. Garland Barber Shop owner Maria Archuleta, who has operated her familyowned business out of the Garland Center for the past 23 years, said her shop is one of only two businesses left in the dilapidated shopping center after Tug’s Bar and Grill closed its doors at the end of last month. Archuleta said she is making final arrangements to move out of the shopping center and into a new Thornton location at 2683 E. 120th Ave. by April 1. “We knew that this shopping center would eventually probably get sold or redeveloped,” Archuleta said. “I know change is inevitable, but after you’re in a place for so long you become accustomed to it. I think I’ll be better in a new location, because we have no foot traffic here anymore.” But it was not always this way. Archuleta said the shopping center was bustling with activity about seven years ago, when the Bingo Bar, Tug’s Bar and Grill, a tae kwon do studio, Social Services
NORTHGLENN-THORNTON SENTINEL
(ISSN 1044-4254) (USPS 854-980)
OFFICE: 7380 Lowell Blvd., Westminster, CO 80030 PHONE: 303-566-4100 A legal newspaper of general circulation in Adams County, Colorado, the NorthglennThornton Sentinel is published weekly on Thursday by MetroNorth Newspapers, 7380 Lowell Blvd., Westminster, CO 80030. PERIODICALS POSTAGE PAID AT WESTMINSTER, COLORADO. POSTMASTER: Send address change to: P.O. Box 350070, Westminster, CO 80035-0070. DEADLINES: Display advertising: Fri. 11 a.m. Legal advertising: Fri. 11 a.m. Classified advertising: Tues. 12 p.m.
office and Department of Motor Vehicles office attracted a lot of new customers every day. “It’s a little sad that I’ve seen a lot come and go over the 23 years that I’ve been here,” Archuleta said. “It’s sad to know the people that you knew around you are going to be dispersed into different directions, but I think where we’re going is a new change. I’m thinking on a positive side rather than a negative side, and I think you have to after you’ve done this for so long.”
Myra Padilla cuts 3-year-old Brooklyn Padilla’s hair at the Garland Barber Shop in Northglenn. The shop is moving out of its home at the Garland Center to make room for a Walmart Neighborhood Market. Photo by Darin Moriki
GET SOCIAL WITH US The NorthglennThornton Sentinel wants to share the news. Check out and like our page on facebook. Search for NorthglennThornton Sentinel.
Printed on recycled newsprint. Please recycle this copy.