WHEAT RIDGE MAYOR Hail Batters Wheat Ridge But Not Community Spirit Page 4
NEIGHBORHOOD FEATURE P.E.O.: Women Helping Women Reach for the Stars Page 7
MEDICALLY SPEAKING Traveling This Summer? Tips for Staying Healthy
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NEIGHBORHOOD
WHEAT RIDGE | APPLEWOOD | MOUNTAIN VIEW | LAKESIDE June 19-July 17, 2017 • ngazette.com • FREE
Wheat Ridge’s First Solar-Powered Historic Landmark? n By
J. Patrick O’Leary
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ast month Fruitdale School Lofts earned the distinction of being the first solar-powered historic landmark in Wheat Ridge. However, it still looks like the Temple Buell-designed Fruitdale School, only with an array of solar panels planted in the property’s backyard. The rest of the new technology is hidden on the roof, in the walls, and in the residences. With rough framing complete and mechanical systems installed, work crews are installing drywall in the interior and restoring the exterior brickwork and windows, in time for residents to move in this fall. On May 16 the building’s 124-kilowatt solar power system was providing 100 percent of the power for the remaining renovation efforts, according to Sara Spaulding, Wheat Ridge public information officer. It will provide approximately 80 percent of the energy needs of the future residents of the property’s 16 affordable apartments, reducing their cost of living. Continued on page 6
KEVIN’S UNIQUE SCULPTURES grace the front and backyard gardens of Diane and Kevin Robb. Their home was a popular stop on the 2016 Wheat Ridge Garden tour. Due to the historic hailstorm in May, this year’s tour has been cancelled. Save the date for the 2018 tour, July 7, 2018. PHOTO: SCOTT WESLEY
Preparing For Placemaking Along The G Line n By
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Elisabeth Monaghan
his past November, Wheat Ridge residents voted to approve 2E, a measure that increases the city’s sales tax rate by one-half of one cent. The funds from the increase will go towards “placemaking” efforts. The concept of placemaking has grown in popularity – especially in the Denver metro area and surrounding cities, where people from all over the country are relocating. For established residents of smaller communities, the introduction of newcomers to the area can be challenging. The “transplants” may have discovered the appeal of these charming neighborhoods, but they don’t know much about the history that helped establish these communities. Placemaking may seem to some like an overused buzzword, but when placemaking efforts are successful, people feel a greater sense of cultural connection and unity; regardless of how long they have lived in the neighborhood. In the March issue of the Neighborhood Gazette, Wheat Ridge Mayor Joyce Jay offered an explanation of placemaking and how it applies to Wheat Ridge: “Placemaking is a multi-faceted approach to the planning design and management of public spaces. It capitalizes on a local community’s assets, inspiration and potential, to create public spaces that promote the health, happiness and wellbeing of those living and working there. In other words, placemaking focuses on creating spaces for people, not just for shopping or cars…. Placemaking allows us to pay attention to what defines Wheat Ridge, our history, our culture, even the physical outdoor spaces that define our city and support our continuing evolution.” Before placemaking worked its way into city planning vernacular, RTD had created its own version of the concept, using art to
create a greater sense of community. With its Art in Transit program, RTD has placed murals, sculptures, and other traditional and nontraditional works at its stations, created by artists from around the world. According to Nate Currey, senior manager, public relations for RTD, Art in Transit was the brainchild of Brenda Tierney, a former RTD employee, who worked there for just over two decades. Currey explains that by using her foresight and resourcefulness, Tierney single-handedly found a way to
budget for art at each of the stations. “We have no mandate, we have no board guidelines as far as art goes at any of our stations, and we don’t have any official funding sources, so what Tierney did was identify funds available at the end of each project,” said Currey. According to Currey, Tierney and her staff fought hard to set money aside for public art. When there was contingency money at the end of a project, Tierney would lobby to use it to fund art at that specific
station. The response from the public was so overwhelmingly positive RTD embraced the idea of creating the Art in Transit program. Today, the funding piece remains specific to each station and depends upon how much money is available at the end of that project, but it is a given there will be art of some kind at the station. While the Art in Transit pieces at each light rail station are visually compelling, it is Continued on page 2
N E I G H B O R H O O D F E AT U R E
Five Fridges Farm At Home and Away n By
Nancy Hahn
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oats from Five Fridges Farm in Wheat Ridge are working away from their farm this month. On June 3, eight male goats were walked on leashes from the farm, at 11100 W. 38th Ave., to Lewis Meadows Park, at Union Street and 32nd Avenue. Why only male goats? A mixed group of males and females can cause the males to get a little rowdy. If the group is only males, they are all contented co-workers. The goats were led to a one-acre fenced area in the park. The fence was provided by Wheat Ridge Parks, Forestry, and Open Space; who have worked with Five Fridges for four years on similar projects. Inside the fence, there are two portable goat houses and lots of fresh water. The goat houses provide, both, a place to sleep and shade from the sun. The goats were provided with the houses and water, but their food will be only what the field provides. After the goats arrived, neighbors and other goat-lovers had a chance to meet the goats from10 a.m. to noon. Neighbors learned that goats love eating nutrition-rich weeds. Dr. Amanda Weaver, from Five GOATS FROM FIVE FRIDGES FARM will spend several Fridges Farm, explained that when goats eat the weeds, they completely weeks in a one-acre, fenced-off field in Lewis Meadows break down the seed pod. It will not have any chance to grow. With Park, eating invasive weeds and trimming the grass, horses, for example, the seeds can pass through the horse’s body
then fertilizing the soil with their droppings. PHOTO: SARA SPALDING
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