The regular meeting of July 27, 2009 of the Centennial Council of Neighborhoods (CenCON) was cancelled and in its place the annual Field Trip was held.

Members met at the Arapahoe Library Administration Building for a short tour and explanation of the library operations that take place in the building. Eloise May, Executive Director and Linda Maloe, Manager of Library Materials Services led the tour.

• Information Technology department is located in the building.
• All books and media related items enter the library system at this location.
• DVD’s are checked out about 30 times per year. Books are checked out about 10 times per year.
• Celebrity photos and letters hung on the walls of the lower level of the building were acquired for the Library District’s 25 and 30 year anniversaries. Celebrities were contacted and asked to submit a memento, item or tell about their favorite book for the reading program.
• All Library programs are developed in the Administration Building.
• Approximately 50 employees staff the Library Administration Building.

The tour continued with a dinner at Whole Foods at Streets at Southglenn. David Goldberg, Alberta Partners, provided an update on the Streets at Southglenn development. The Grand Opening will occur on August 27 – 30 with several tenants opening prior to that date. Negotiations are underway with a prospective tenant for the 4-story office tower. The 202-unit apartment complex is under construction. The movie theater will open in late October as will the 24-hour fitness center.

Laurie Christensen and Holly Whelan served as tour guides for CenCON members and guests of the newly opened Southglenn Library. Features include:

• Express checkout
• Browse by ‘neighborhood’ categories while retaining the Dewey decimal system within each neighborhood
• Free Wi-Fi including out on the balcony
• Fireplace – uses clean alcohol burning technology
• Environmentally friendly heating and air conditioning features
• Meeting Rooms
• White Board walls in specific areas for public use
• Children’s area equipped with games, books, puzzles, a white board wall for pictures and comments
• Quiet rooms
• Retail hours with later openings and closings
• Mosaic wall mural which came from the former Southglenn Library location
• "Play-Away" books are replacing the audio books and are available at the library. All you need is a pair of earphones, otherwise, it is self contained. 

The City of Centennial is applying for a $200,000 GOCO grant to apply to developing Phase 1 of Civic Center Park. Centennial has set aside $2.5 million in the 2009 budget to develop the park. It is anticipated that the City would receive $250,000 from Arapahoe County in 2010 to be designated for the park.

The City is asking for letters of support for this grant. Following discussion, CenCON members voted to approve the letter of support for the GOCO grant.

Page last updated on: 08/27/2009