The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink AboutFORT COLLINS DISCOVERY MUSEUM - FDP - 6-10/A - MEDIA --emu u. W1 auuress is to the American Legion's our national convention in ure Milwaukee. IN POLICY 1y errors made in reporting of news In contact the following: r B. Hansen — (970) 416-3967 at Ferrier — (970) 224-7742 - (970) 224-7750 uff — (970) 224-7733 It — (970) 224-7743 37 • 131 Retail,. ............................... ((970)) 224,7701 '885 Fax number ........................(970) 224-7726 INFORMATION CENTER 755 For questions concerning news or a cormc- tlon, call: Sam B. Hansen senior content editor .......... (970) 416.3967 1989 SaraHansen®colomdoan.com Kathleen Duff community conversation n. editor..................................(970) 224.7733 J Kathle"Duff®coloradcan.com ,ail- Kate Gannon multimedia editor.... ...... ..... (970) 224-7767 KateGannon ®coloradoan.com Ike Mlles Blumhardt Life editor ..........................(970) 224-7743 MllesBlumhardt O coloradoan,com News fax .......................... (970) 224-7899 t CIRCULATION at Delivery deadlines within the cIry limits of Id Fort Collins, Loveland and Windsor are 6 Ave. a.m. Monday to Friday and 7 a.m. Saturday and Sunday. Subacnbers outside thane Lek cities' limits may receive papers later In the morning. Sub scdbers who do not receive a 3ek gaper by the wall as may receive credit y ceiling tall f ee 1(877) 424-0083, tek CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING HOURS 8 a.m, to 5 p.m. to Monday -Friday, walk -In and phone Coloradoen information ...... (970) 493-6397 Visit us Online: 00 www.colomdoen.com your news 1 your photos Z your views that in better economic times, a new building might be more feasible. Fundraisers recently have raised more public awareness than money, she said, and the old former dairy building Animal House currently rents is showing signs of age and deterioration. "It's exciting to be able to dream," she said. But dreaming, Risler said, Museum Continued from Page Al That funding is not a trade- off for the proposed budget reductions, Heffernan said. The new building, which is three times the size of the cur- rent museum, will need the money gust to keep the lights on" and maintenance. Most of the proposed cuts are "behind the scenes" and are not likely to directly affect the experience of visitors to the new facility, said Annette Geiselman, co -director of the Fort. Collins Museum & Discovery Science Center. The new facility will offer a mix- ture of history and science in its exhibits and programs. The new building is expect- ed to generate revenue through entrance fees and sales at a coffee shop and gift store planned to be part of the facility, she said. Geisehnan said the pro- posed city budget reduction is a concern, but it will not derail the project. "Will it have an impact? Yes. Does it tarnish my confi- dence in the quality of facility? No," she said. Facing a projected $5.4 mil- lion revenue shortfall through i�4w � xat<•`;. 1l1� �" ?",.ran °rn, "'w'�'r. �; See a video and a gallery of photos from Animal House at www.coloradoan.com. is all she can do when it hurts just to look at the shelter's bank account each day. Animal House has been in dire straits before, but just before critical decisions about the shelter's future had to be made, donors came to the rescue and gave it a new lease on life. This time around, potential donors aren't so obvious, she said Risler said she's optimistic about the future even though it is beginning to look grim. The shelter has just put together a committee with outside members who will help Animal House plan for the future, and the Fall Harvest Brewfest fundraiser is set for Oct, 2. "Sometimes it takes us reaching out in desperation to get people to notice what your needs are," Risler said. V. Richard Haro/Coloradoan library The Fort Collins Museum currently stands in the Carnegie Building. It could hit a financial speed bump just as it's getting ready to launch a new, multimillion -dollar facility. 2012, Atteberry has proposed spending cuts across many of the city's budget areas, includ- ing parks and recreation, police services and night para- transit service. This year's total operating budget for the museum is $975.359, according to city records. Atteberry said the proposed cut to the museum should not take away from the new facili- ty. "We think we can operate it extremely well even with this reduction," he said. The museum is expected to lose a curator position in 2011 that was funded by the city's Natural Areas program to assist in the development of local exhibits. Along with reductions in staff hours, an exhibit technician's post that is expected to be vacated will not be filled in 2012, Heffernan said. "We are going to be compro- mised in our ability to main- tain, change and put on new exhibits without that exhibit technician," he said. economy. From the Oval Office, where, George W. Bush first announced the invasion that hundreds of billions of dollars less than 20 minutes, only his spent. second address from the Oval In a telling sign of the Office, Obama looked directly domestic troubles weighing on into the TV camera, hands Afghanistan, now the nation's longest war since Vietnam. See OBAMA/Page A2 In this Office in Iraq Reduced Fort Collins budget could squeeze new museum BY KEVIN DUGGAN KevinDuggan®coloradoan.com The Fort Collins Museum could hit a financial speed bump just as its getting ready to launch a new, multimillion - dollar facility. City Manager Darin Atteberry's recommended city budget for the next two years is expected to include a $55,000 cut to the museums operating budget next year and another $145,000 in 2012. The reductions, if accepted by City Council, would trans- late to less staff time for work- ing on exhibits and education- al programming, said Marty Heffernan, executive director of culture, parks, recreation and environment. Staff reductions also would impact the handling of materi- als for the museum's local his- torical archives, be said. Access to the archives will -be more limited through reduced operating hours. "It is going to have a fairly significant impact" Heffernan said. "We're still trying to figure out exactly what it will mean." Groundbreaking for a new $25 million building for the Fort Groundbreaking > The public is invited to groundbreaking festivities for the new Fort Collins Discovery Museum sched- uled 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 11 near the corner of Cherry and Mason streets. > Events will include family activities from 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., followed by groundbreaking ceremonies and a question -and -answer session with the facility's directors and staff. > Information: See www.fcmdsc.org, or call (970) 221-6738. Collins Discovery Museum is scheduled Sept. 11. The build- ing is expected to open in 2012. Funding for the project includes $6 million from the voter -approved Building on Basics capital improvement program. The program included $200,000 a year for operations and maintenance for seven years. See MUSEUM/Page A2 . 1 1 Animal House sea -arc BY BOBBY MAGILL Bobby Magill®coloradoan.com Shelby, a 12-year-old sandy -colored Labrador mix, sauntered Tuesday morning into the lobby of Animal House Rescue and Grooming, a pet shelter in northwest Fort Collins. Emaciated but being nursed back to health by Animal House staff, Shelby came to the shelter extremely malnour- ished. Her former owners relinquished her to the shelter before they could eutha- Interested? For more information on i or to donate, visit www.a help.org. For information festival, visit www.fallhar com. nize her, and now she nourishment and love healthy again, Animal F Director Sandra Risler s Drug court steers drug users in right direction BY TREVOR HUGHES TrevorHughes@ coloradoan.com Taylor Minkler started using meth when she was 13, and, for years, she got away with it. But the law caught up with her eventually, landing Minkler, of Loveland, in Mary Joan Berenato's court- room. Berenato put Minkler, then 17, into an intensive drug treatment program. And for 10 months, Minkler followed the program but refused to accept she was an addict. And then she relapsed. Berenato threw her in jail. For a week. Minkler said. That week in jail, along with Berenato's willingness to hold her accountable, prompted her to accept she was an addict. Today, Minkler, 19, is clean and sober. She's got a job. And she's planning to go to college in the spring. "I was a wreck when I got "I have a life today that Fin really proud of" "Here" was the final juve- nile drug court graduation over which Berenato presided. After six years, Berenato is being transferred from her juvenile docket to a rotating assignment.