Improvements Coming to Historic Chinatown

2010-03-31T04:11:26Z

A gift of $30,000 will be given to Historic Chinatown, located on J Street between 3rd and 5th streets, for improvements to safety and lighting.

The funds are coming from the Community Development Block Grant, which is made up of funding by the federal government but is given out at the discretion of the Sacramento City Council. The $30,000 was approved at the March 9 City Council meeting.

Jennifer Lee-Lewis, community manager of the Ping Yuen Apartments, said the funds are needed because the area is home to a significant senior population that encounters tripping hazards. These tripping hazards, such as cracked tiles and big tree roots, are harder to spot during the night due to the poor lighting.

She said that because Historic Chinatown is hard to see from the streets outside, it oftentimes goes unnoticed.

"Things don't get taken care of like they should," she said. Lee-Lewis said that many of the seniors living in the Ping Yuen Apartments or the nearby Wong Center, both part of Historic Chinatown, walk around the area to get exercise, but the tripping hazards can be dangerous because many seniors shuffle their feet as they walk. During autumn, falling leaves and plentiful rain can make the issue even worse.

Meitra Bozorgzadegan, an event promoter for the pagoda building, said the poor lighting contributes not only to the tripping hazards, but also to crime in the area, including robberies and beatings.

"It is kinda scary," she said, noting that the courtyard can become very dark after hours. "I don't feel comfortable being down here at night."

"We definitely need light for seniors when they come home at night," Lee-Lewis said. "Everyone here is 55 years old or over, and many have disabilities."

Another priority is improved signage for the area.

"I would really like to see signage saying that this is Chinatown," Lee-Lewis said. "It would be nice to have more of a focus on culture. No one knows about it because we're hidden."

Once it gets the publicity it needs and once some of these problems get fixed, it will definitely be a cute area," added Bozorgzadegan.

Dan Roth, director of Sacramento's District 1, said that the funds will be administered soon and are currently going through a bidding process. However, Roth also said that the money is meant to help spruce up the area with lighting and signage. The tripping hazards, he said, can be fixed with compliance money for the Americans with Disabilities Act and shouldn't be taken out of the Block Grant money. Either way, Historic Chinatown will see many improvements soon.

School moving from old Marshall School to Thomas Jefferson Elementary

2009-11-05T03:04:47Z

It was confirmed last week California Montessori Project's Capitol Campus will move from the Marshall School to Thomas Jefferson Elementary School in the College Glen neighborhood.

Since August, CMP leased the Marshall School building from the Sacramento City Unified School District, which also oversees its charter. Next Thursday and Friday, the school will be closed for the move and will resume at the new campus on Nov. 16.

SCUSD superintendent Jonathan Raymond met with CMP board members, students and parents Tuesday night at the campus' new location. After stating reasons for the move, he answered questions from parents.

"The old Marshall School, although a very beautiful facility and by all appearances structurally sound, does not comply with two very important requirements," Raymond said. "No. 1, the Field Act, (which) simply relates to the ability of a building to withstand a seismic event; the other important component is this building does not meet state building codes - it is not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act."

He stated that charter schools are required by Prop 39, which passed in 2005, to comply with either one of these codes, and the Marshall School does not. Raymond also took responsibility for the error, and said he looks forward to helping CMP move to the Jefferson campus, which is Field Act and ADA compliant.

"We're going to do it expeditiously, with (the) least disruption to the children and to the families of California Montessori Project, first and foremost," Raymond said to the crowd of nearly 200 gathered in the multi-purpose/lunch room.

This includes providing bus transportation to the new school site throughout the remainder of the school year. Details on the bus routes will be given in the next week, Raymond said.

Thomas Jefferson Elementary School closed at the end of the 2008-09 school year after suffering from low enrollment and loss of revenue. Although CMP Capitol Campus' enrollment is also low, in the low 200s, moving to this location is an opportunity for the school to expand and use the facility the way it should be used, Raymond said.

The school also has a new rooftop ventilation system with furnaces and thermostats added last year, said Mellissa Truitt, SCUSD Associate Superintendent of Capital Asset Management Services.

Some parents said they were still upset about leaving the downtown location so quickly in the middle of a school year. They were notified in late October about a possible move.

"The move is disappointing because we lived in the (Marshall) neighborhood," said Rachelle Barbour, parent of a first-grade student at CMP. "If it wasn't for the liability reasons [if a seismic event did occur, the district and the CMP board would be liable for any injury], it wouldn't have happened so fast."

However, Barbour said she felt "reassured" that the superintendent met with parents and will use the buses provided by the school district. She also noted that there are too few schools in the grid, and said she would like for another school to open in the downtown area.

Darrin Greer, another parent of a first-grade student, thought that the meeting was informative and answered questions.

"The superintendent was open and it helps (that) the district is committed to transportation," he said. "Moving is difficult to do in the middle of the year."

Greer said it would be interesting to see how many people will stay at CMP and how many will leave, but he expects most will stay for at least the rest of this year. He also wanted to know if any other schools in the SCUSD have ADA or Field Act compliance issues.

"This was the only one," Raymond said in an interview after the meeting. "We want to see it thrive. We want to provide whatever support we can to ensure that they do, it's important for the community."

He also said that creating downtown-area schools is a priority.

"We have people living and moving in there, and we need to provide school facilities for those children too and those families," Raymond said. "I've told the community and others in the neighborhood that's something I want to work toward."

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Improvements Coming to Historic Chinatown

School moving from old Marshall School to Thomas Jefferson Elementary