Workers placed the last piece of Aurora's Prairie Water Project supply pipe on Thursday, February 11, 2010, nearly 2 years after pipeline construction began. The Prairie Waters Project will help drought-harden the city beginning in 2011.

Workers lowered the final piece of 60 inch concrete-lined steel pipe with a crane into a 10-foot deep trench near the Aurora Reservoir and welded it into place. In total, workers installed 34 miles of 60-inch pipe from Weld County to the Aurora Reservoir.

"This moment is more than the end of major activities for the conveyance pipeline," said Darrell Hogan, Prairie Waters Project Program Director. "This marks a beginning for our final push to conclude construction activities by the end of the year. The project is on schedule and projected to be under budget."

The project broke ground in July of 2007 as work began on the Peter D. Binney Water Purification Facility, located north of the Aurora Reservoir. Pipeline activities began in March of 2008 to connect the North Campus, a natural purification area located along the South Platte River north of Brighton, to the new water purification facility. The completed pipeline will initially allow for 10,000 acre-feet of water to be delivered to Aurora.

Overall, the Prairie Waters Project is 88 percent complete. By May, work is scheduled to conclude on the projects three pumping stations. Workers will then begin testing the conveyance system and delivering water to the new treatment facility.

The Prairie Waters Project is the fastest, cost-effective and environmentally sustainable way to enhance Aurora's water supply. During 2003, the city had less than a 9 month supply of water due to a prolonged drought. To protect Aurora from future drought impacts, the Prairie Waters Project was developed to utilize existing return flows from its transbasin diversions and transferred agriculture rights.

For the latest project news and information, visit www.prairiewaters.org.

Spotlight Theatre
presents
And Then There Were None
By Agatha Christie
Directed by Bernie Cardell
Performed at the John Hand Theater in Lowry

Spotlight Theatre Company presents "And Then There Were None" February 27 - March 27 at the John Hand Theater, 7653 E. 1st Place in Denver. Performances are Friday/Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, February 28 and March 14 at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $18 Adult/ $16 for Students/Seniors and available by calling 720-880-8727 or online at www.thisisspotlight.org.

In this superlative mystery-comedy, statuettes of little soldier boys on the mantel of a house on an island off the coast of Devon fall to the floor and break one by one as those in the house succumb to a diabolical avenger. A nursery rhyme tells how each of the ten "soldiers" met their deaths until there were none. Eight guests who have never met each other or their absent host and hostess are lured to the island and, along with two house servants, marooned. A mysterious voice accuses each of having gotten away with murder and then one drops dead... poisoned. One down, nine to go.

Bernie Cardell returns to Spotlight Theatre with "And Then There Were None" with a cast that includes Haley Johnson as Vera Claythorne, James O'Hagan Murphy as Anthony Marston, Andy Anderson as Philip Lombard, Jesse Pearlman as William Blore, Dell Domnik as Judge Wargrave, David Harms as Doctor Armstrong, Mike Kienker as Thomas Rogers, Priscilla Young as Ethel Rogers, Deborah Curtis as Emily Brent, and Wade Livingston as General MacKenzie.

This is the sixth production of an Agatha Christie play by Spotlight Theatre Company making her their most produced author (beating out Ray Cooney!)

Spotlight Theatre Company presents
"And Then There Were None"
Agatha Christie creates a masterpiece of mystery and murder.
Feb. 27 - Mar. 27
Fri./Sat. at 7:30 p.m.
Sun. Feb 28 & Mar. 14 at 6:30 p.m.
John Hand Theater, 7653 E. 1st Place in Denver.
Tickets are $18 Adult/ $16 for Students/Seniors
720-880-8727 or online at www.thisisspotlight.org.

School districts pour millions into voter-approved projects

A flurry of new construction and renovation projects at a number of schools in Aurora is helping keep contractors busy in an otherwise tepid economy.

Aurora voters passed bond measures in November 2008 for both the Aurora Public Schools (APS) district and the Cherry Creek School District (CCSD). The bonds add up to nearly $420 million for projects in Aurora, money that's being used to build new schools and make upgrades to existing facilities.

The money is especially important for the state's construction sector, which has shed roughly 22,400 jobs in the last year, said Michael Gifford, executive director of the Associate General Contractors of America Colorado chapter. The lost jobs have resulted in a 14.7 percent decline in Colorado's construction industry.

"I can say that $420 million for Cherry Creek Schools and Aurora Public Schools is fabulous," Gifford said. "It's very critical to keep people at work so they can be a productive part of the economy."

Cherry Creek Schools recently broke ground on the new $14 million Institute of Science and Technology, one of the major projects included in the bond schedule, said district spokeswoman Tustin Amole. The 58,000 square-foot facility is slated to open at South Peoria Street and East Jewell Avenue in fall 2011, Amole said.

Construction also is well underway on a new elementary school in the Wheatlands neighborhood, just east of the Southlands Shopping Center. "Elementary #41" is one of three new elementary schools in the Cherry Creek School District to be funded by bond proceeds.

In east Aurora, construction crews are nearing completion of a new P-8 school near East Colfax Avenue and E-470. The APS school, which is expected to serve about 1,000 students, is expected to be completed by mid-April, said Ed Nation, superintendent of FCI Contractors, which is building the facility.

The school is part of a sprawling 100-acre campus dubbed P-20, meaning it will one day serve pre-school through the 20th grade, or college. The $72 million development is the centerpiece of APS's bond construction, a project that also includes a new high school, in addition to a sports complex featuring a multi-purpose stadium, baseball diamonds, tennis courts and soccer fields.

Both schools are expected to be open by 2011, said APS spokeswoman Paula Hans.

Joey Kirchmer: 303-954-2650 or kirchmerj@yourhub.com