The city celebrated an important reconnection to the Sacramento River Wednesday with the grand opening of the Docks Riverfront Promenade.

More than 100 people — from cyclists and dog walkers to the city staff and contractors who made it happen — converged on the sunny, tree-lined promenade overlooking the green river to mark the completion of the parkway's $5.4 million first phase.

Many rode a California State Railroad Museum train along its relocated track from Old Sacramento to the new Pioneer Landing Park, where the celebration began. The promenade and park, with its landscaped public plaza and giant water sculpture, were built to stimulate redevelopment of an old industrial brownfield area and to connect downtown to the river.

The waterfront along the Sacramento and American rivers are among the city's best assets, yet they've "sat dormant" for too long, said Mayor Kevin Johnson.

"We want to be a city known for our riverfront development," he said. "This is a significant first step."

Speeches and a ribbon-cutting were followed by Johnson high-fiving City Councilmember Ray Tretheway, whose district includes Old Sacramento and parts of the riverfront. The two politicians came together for the grand opening despite Johnson's recent endorsement of Tretheway's opponent in next week's City Council elections, which has put a strain on their relationship.

"We have our rivers. We have our promenade. We have our train. We have our reconnection to the waterfront," Tretheway said. "Congratulations, Sacramento."

The $15 million Riverfront Promenade will be a linear, mile-long parkway featuring a paved path connecting Old Sacramento and Miller Park. The start of a roughly 20-foot concrete path inlaid with brick has been built between the river and new railroad museum train tracks to replace a section of existing pedestrian- and bike-friendly path that was 10- to 12-feet wide.

The 14-acre parkway is expected to be completed by 2013 or 2014. Two blocks of parkway were constructed about 10 years ago from Tower Bridge to O Street when Embassy Suites Sacramento was built.

Ground was broken on the promenade's first phase in February 2009. That phase, which includes 1,200 feet of parkway from O Street to R Street and the triangular park at the R Street extension and bike/pedestrian bridge, was finished a couple weeks ago. Problems with weather and construction delays postponed the completion, which had been expected by the end of 2009.

Pioneer Landing was built as the entry point to the as-yet undeveloped Docks Area with the hope that both promenade and park will spur adjacent retail development, said Beth Tincher, project manager of the Docks Area project and promenade.

Wednesday morning, the plaza's signature piece — a 17-foot tall, galvanized steel water feature designed by renowned Bay Area artist Ned Kahn — threw out mist and water droplets. The hanging "cloud vessel" functional art piece and three nearby landscaped berms are shaped like boat hulls to play up the city's connection to its riverfront. The water feature will provide visitors with a way to cool off on Sacramento's 100-degree days.

The steel sculpture is expected to be lit for the first time Wednesday night. LED lights outlining the piece will be visible to drivers on neighboring I-5.

Seating areas are scattered throughout the one-third[-]acre park. Four modernistic concrete chaise lounges and two small wooden stools offer views of the river. Two traditional benches, concrete benches with handrails to help seniors and discourage skateboarding, and circular concrete benches around the plaza provide more places for visitors to relax. Concrete and steel overlooks provide views of the river at extensions of O and R streets.

Landscaping includes yellow day lilies, white fortnight lilies, rosemary and New Zealand flax, as well as native California oaks, red maples and crepe myrtles.

"The idea behind the landscaping was to provide primarily drought-tolerant, low-maintenance (species with) seasonal interest," said Jarvis Payne, a landscape architect with Walker Macy, which designed and built the first phase. His colleagues, Christopher Miller and Mike Zilis, joined him at the grand opening after the trio oversaw the project for Walker Macy.

The first phase was paid for with money from State Proposition 40, State Proposition 1B street improvement funds, redevelopment tax increment financing and development impact fees from parks, Tincher said.

The city has already applied for nearly $5 million in Proposition 84 grant funding from the state to finance most of the promenade's second phase. The city has also set aside $450,000 for that phase, Tincher said. That section will be built from R to T streets.

Walker Macy is completing design drawings now. The city expects to learn whether it has won the grant — and how much — this fall, and construction could start by next spring, Tincher said.

The third phase, which would also cost about $5 million, would complete the promenade from the freeway crossing at Pioneer Bridge to Miller Park. That phase is expected to start in 2013 if funding is available, she added.

An estimated $14 million in infrastructure for the Docks Area had been expected to begin between mid-2011 and the start of 2012. The start of infrastructure work is expected to be postponed while the city seeks funding.

Photos by Suzanne Hurt, a staff reporter covering business and development for The Sacramento Press.