Face Lift Arizona

Central Station opens after $3.7M facelift

Central Station reopened Friday after a $3.7 million face-lift funded by the city of Phoenix and stimulus money.

Kini Knudson , deputy public transit director for the city of Phoenix, said American Recover and Reinvestment Act funds were used on the project because the station hadn’t had major improvements since it was built in 1997.

Increased area traffic in recent years because of Arizona State University ’s downtown campus and the light rail were improvements the station had to keep up with.

“With the changing context of downtown, we wanted to get it in line with how downtown was redeveloping,” Knudson said. “There are more than a thousand buses that go through the site each day, so it’s our central hub.”

The city is seeking a certification from the U.S. Green Building Council ’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program for the project based on its new sustainable features, including the use of light-emitting diode lighting, plumbing fixtures that conserve water and a landscape irrigation system that responds to weather conditions to decrease water usage, among other improvements.

The station also sports overhead canopies and shading.

“We wanted to provide more shad outside because our primary concern is passenger comfort,” Knudson said. “We looked at it as a chance to put a fresh look on the building to make it more efficient and sustainable.

Conquering clutter: Fridge door face lift « The A-Z Files

I recently decided to tend to the chaos that was our refrigerator door, the face of our fridge. I'd say for almost a year, our poor door was a mish-mash of photos, magnets, lists and artwork. It seemed like every day, our two little ones would (proudly) add a new drawing to display on the refrigerator. It's not that I don't like my girls' creations, but a dozen drawings haphazardly displayed on one relatively small surface isn't the best way to highlight art.

The kitchen is the most used room in our home and our refrigerator is the focal point in the kitchen. The door became an eyesore and I felt like it was time to address the mess.

So the other day, I threw out old colorings and drawings. I kept only our most favorite ones to display and filed away the rest. I also grouped all the magnets together. It took just 10 minutes.

We have the same problem except I've had to keep everything on the upper part of my refrigerator because of my 20 mo old. I try to clear off old pictures and either put them away, if I'm keeping them, or throwing them away. I only try to keep magnets on my refrigerator that are pertinent like the number for the pediatrician, poison control, doctor, etc. Pictures, I love having them on there, especially ones of the boys when they were smaller. I think having a plan to clear things off once a quarter or even once a month is a good idea!

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