The plan for Horizon Uptown is shifting into a new gear, with concepts emerging for a K-8 school, a park system, a welcome center and more. So it seemed like a good time to send out the first issue of The Update, our e-newsletter. Enjoy … and stay tuned.
K-8 pilot school - requesting permission for take-off
Lend Lease Communities has submitted a proposal to Aurora Public Schools for a new K-8 pilot school at Horizon Uptown. A pilot school is one which is given more control of things like curriculum, staffing and budget in exchange for better performance as measured by test scores and other criteria. The Aurora school district has approved four new pilot schools. The K-8 school at Horizon would be placed on the 45-acre central park, within easy walking distance of most homes here.
Big plans for parks
Design Workshop - an international, award-winning landscape architecture firm - is working on conceptual plans for the Horizon Uptown parks system. The plan is comprised of a network of neighborhood pocket parks anchored by a 45-acre central park, one of Aurora’s largest. An outdoor performance area, tennis courts, dog park, skate park, specialty gardens and community gardens are just some of the ideas being considered.
What could be more welcoming than a café and wine bar?
The Horizon Uptown Welcome Center is now in its concept development phase. Scheduled to open in summer, 2009, it will include a café/wine bar, flexible event space, marketing exhibits, a children’s play area and offices for the Horizon project team. Semple Brown Design is creating the concept for the contemporary structure, which is expected to be one of Colorado’s first LEED Platinum buildings. If you’re familiar with the restored Ellie Caulkins Opera House, the Lowenstein Theater complex and the parks and pavilions at Stapleton and Belmar,
you’re familiar with Semple Brown’s work.
Coming this spring: the Horizon marketing campaign
Strada Advertising is creating an integrated marketing program with the same modern energy as the plan for Horizon Uptown itself. A website, collateral material and signage will begin to appear this spring. Some of Strada’s other clients include McStain Neighborhoods, Kennecott Land Company (Daybreak, Utah), Forrest City Enterprises (Mesa del Sol, New Mexico) and Lennar (El Toro base redevelopment, Irvine CA).
And in related news …
Buckley Air Force Base - just a few miles southwest of Horizon Uptown - recently reported that it creates an annual economic impact of about $1 billion to the City of Aurora. The report also said that while more than 12,000 people work at Buckley, the base has only 750 on-site housing units. Buckley is one of the country’s fastest growing Air Force bases, with $37 million in capital construction projects underway.
Denver International Airport had a record-breaking year in 2007. A total of 49,863,352 passengers used DIA last year, shattering the previous record set in 2006. DIA is close to capacity and is updating its master plan to accommodate future growth. (By the way, Horizon Uptown is a 10- to 15-minute drive from DIA.)
