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Friday, February 10, 2012
VIBE award to Firestone at downtown breakfast
by Suzanne Hurt, published on December 17, 2009 at 9:55 PM
Storyline: Downtown
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The Firestone Building on downtown's eastern edge has taken the 2010 V.I.B.E. award, the Downtown Sacramento Partnership announced Thursday.
The award will be presented Jan. 19 to developers Mark and Jim Cordano, Ken Fahn, and George and Betty Wurster during the partnership's 12th annual State of Downtown Breakfast at Memorial Auditorium, 1515 J St.
The 80-year-old building — where Firestone operated a tire station and service center at the corner of 16th and L streets for more than 70 years — now is home to de Vere's Irish Pub, Mix Downtown, Sapporo Grill Japanese Steakhouse and California Pizza Kitchen. A Greek restaurant is reportedly in the works.
The project won the award because the developers made a "dramatic transformation" of a long vacant building without public subsidies and because the restored building contains a variety of strong tenants, according to the partnership.
“The renovation of Firestone Building has made a significant impact downtown,” said DSP Executive Director Michael Ault in a prepared statement. “Not only is the project a great example of adaptive reuse of a historic site, but it also generates energy that complements the thriving entertainment and dining district along 16th Street and L Street.”
The Firestone, at 1531 L St., was among eight buildings nominated for the "Visionary Icons in Building Excellence" award, which recognizes projects, people and efforts that support the business group's goals for improving downtown. Cosmopolitan, at 10th and K streets, won last year.
The building got its name after being constructed in 1929 to house a Firestone tire store. Firestone closed operations there at least five years ago.
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper will give the breakfast's keynote speech about his experience with the revitalization of downtown Denver and how government and businesses can collaborate to make Sacramento a "destination city." Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson also will speak.
Tickets are $60 for table seats, $35 for gallery seats. Sales start next week, according to the partnership.
Photos by Ed Fogle of Maverick Photography.
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bbbbmer
December 18, 2009 | 6:27 AM
Great Project!
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William Burg
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December 18, 2009 | 6:29 PM
A long-vacant building? It was only closed for about four years, during most of which this project was in process or being built...this makes it sound like it had been vacant for ages. I admit it's a neat adaptive reuse project, but there are plenty of long-vacant buildings that we really need to get around to fixing up...although many of their owners are still waiting for a visit from the Skyscraper Fairy.
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