CITY HALL
Council approves plans for mini park
The City Council approved final plans for a $1.8-million mini park
in the Adams Hill area and instructed staff members to proceed with
planning for a pocket library in an Adams Square storefront Tuesday.
Council members made one alteration to the final mini-park plans
by recommending the narrowing of a 10-foot-wide concrete walkway
intersecting the park, which includes a 70-year-old service station
converted to provide shade for park benches.
The city has spent a little more than $1 million purchasing the
land for the 12,500-square-foot park, including the old Richfield Oil
Co. station. The estimated remaining cost for the project, including
design and construction, is about $780,000, Parks Recreation and
Community Services Director George Chapjian said
Construction of the park is scheduled to begin in June 2006, with
completion slated for December 2006.
The proposed pocket library in a 2,200-square-foot storefront in
the Adams Square building, however, is still far from becoming a
reality.
The council voted 4-1 to instruct Library Division staffers to
enter lease negotiations with the owner of the building, Neighborhood
Legal Services, and to investigate funding sources for the estimated
$735,000 renovation and $303,000 in annual staffing costs.
* The City Council approved a preliminary design plan Tuesday that
would replace the city's Adult Recreation Center in Central Park with
an 18,000-square-foot facility in the northeast corner of the park,
along Louise Street. It was the third design and location for the
facility chosen by the council since June 28.
The new building is smaller and cheaper than previous versions
approved by the council.
It would eliminate four existing tennis courts and still provide
5,000 square feet more than the current facilities at an estimated
cost of $10 million, Parks, Recreation and Community Services
Director George Chapjian said.
EDUCATION
Students' scores up over last year
The number of Glendale Unified School District students scoring
proficient or better climbed between 1 and 7 percentage points in
2005, compared to last year, on the California Standards Test and the
California Achievement Test, the two exams that make up the state's
Standardized Testing and Reporting program. The program's test scores
were released statewide this week.
* Glendale's 10th grade students also posted gains on the
California High School Exit Exam, which also released its scores this
