In the coming weeks, the City of Sacramento will be applying for a federal grant of discretionary funds called the Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER IV.) This grant is being applied for with hopes of using the money for rehabilitation and improvements of facilities of the Sacramento Valley Station building. Although constructed in 1926 with expansive light filled spaces and fine architectural details, decades of neglect are evident. Most of the building’s systems have outlived their useful life, and only 20,000 square feet is currently in use. Proposed upgrades, such as adding heating and air conditioning, elevators, stairs and restrooms will increase usable i

Every time I visit the Railyards it’s as if the earth there itself is churning, a breathing organism. Soil is moved, smoothed over and relocated again. Ditches are dug, tunnels are built and pathways begin to take some semblance. Because I come to the site every few months or so, it’s a surprise every time. The tunnels, which are taking shape for future pedestrians stand now as cold, hard bored out portions of the ground. Aluminum scaffolding peppers the inside, creating a metal web of sorts for workers. In the future, they may be bustling veins with foot traffic and the sounds of the masses. Rail signals have also sprouted between the 5th and 6th Street Bridges, waiting for their trains

It’s as if the ghosts of all those who have traveled through these halls before us can still be heard... I find myself yet again walking through empty rooms that echo not only my footsteps, but the seeming sounds of the past The Sacramento Valley Station finds itself as a hub of transportation for the Sacramento area. Currently serving as an intermodal complex, the facility includes Amtrak, light rail, regional bus services and taxi amenities. The public portions of the building are those that many are familiar with such as the main hall, or passenger waiting area, where customers purchase tickets or pass through to the facilities outside to the north. Outside are the bus berths, passeng

The Powerhouse Science Center project officially broke ground this morning, commemorating its push forward with the unfurling of a large 30 x 10 foot banner, which adorned the front of the former PG&E power station building. In attendance were some 60 citizens, dignitaries, funding partners, Powerhouse Science Center staff and City staff. Speakers at the event included Mayor Kevin Johnson, Congressmember Doris Matsui, Senator Darrell Steinberg's District Director, Susan McKee, and Michele Wong, the Interim Executive Director for the project. A $7 million check was presented to the project, generated by Proposition 84's "Nature Education Facilities" grant. The funds will be used to partial

Here's an elevated view for another perspective to Big things underway at Sacramento Railyards by Carlos Eliason:

The Railyards is currently abuzz with activity. I recently had the chance take a short tour of the construction as part of my work with the City and it is a sight to behold. Seeing the massive excavation of dirt is am impressive far cry from what the site looked like only two months earlier, when construction started in May. The progress of the 245 plot of land is a welcome sight. The earth directly in front of the main shop buildings, north of the Sacramento Amtrak Station, takes a large dip, perhaps twenty feet deep now. Before, this area was a flat expanse of dusty land, reaching to the rail station. Excavators pepper the site, clambering around their newly built depths of soil. Steam

If you’ve ever you’ve wondered what that old abandoned building off the west side of I-5, just north of downtown Sacramento is, wonder no more. If you aren’t familiar with it, the City now owns the former PG&E Powerhouse, built in 1912 and vacated sometime in the early 60’s. Currently it sits empty, an eyesore for most that travel along Jibboom Street between the I Street Bridge, and Richards Boulevard. Most recently, it was nominated to be a part of the National Register of Historic Places. I recently had a somewhat exclusive chance to photograph the inside of the building for the Economic Development Department. The building is being converted into a science, space and technology museu

The Capitol Area Development Authority is hunting down a new home for a historic fourplex in an effort to save the Art Moderne building from a wrecking ball. The stucco apartment building known as Capitol Gardens was built at 1517 N St. in 1949 by Sacramento architect and engineer Jacob Loyth. In fall 2011, construction will begin on the site at the northwest corner of 16th and N streets on a $43 million, nine-floor building with 117 condos. CADA is trying to find a way to relocate the building's historic four front units to reduce the cumulative loss of historic resources and impact on a potential historic district, as directed by an environmental report for construction on the site. T

 Stories flowed Sunday as people got down and dirty to help restore the Iceland ice skating rink. People shared memories of old times as they carried debris from the ice floor and helped to remove the wooden flooring around the rink. Sunday was the fourth day the owners of the rink have asked volunteers to help them clean. Terrie Kerth, granddaughter of the late Bill Kerth, who built the ice rink in 1940, said the response has been unbelievable. When the project began, she said, the debris on the rink was more than a foot tall. Now, it's almost cleared, and the old rink will survive with some leveling. The wooden floors are being torn out and replaced with concrete. More than 100 volunte

Repairs are under way at a historic Midtown building whose front end caved in after being rammed by a truck last May. The 81-year-old brick building at 16th and U streets had long been vacant when an Icee truck and an SUV collided and ran up onto the sidewalk May 19. The front end of the 2,889-square-foot building had been covered by a modern glass-and-stucco storefront facade for years. Standing on busy 16th Street, the building held a prominent role in the Richmond Grove neighborhood for decades. The structure was built in 1929 as an early Safeway grocery store. That was followed by a hardware store, cigar shop, Chinese grocery and massage parlor. The building had been vacant before an

On Tuesday, August 11, the Sacramento city council will decide whether to give away the half-block from K to L on 8th Street, containing the Bel-Vue Apartments and several other buildings to developers Bob Leach, Mohammed Mohanna and Parkcrest Development. The land was recently purchased by the city from Mohanna at a price of $18.6 million, and the developers are asking not only for free land but several years of tax-free operation. The net cost to the city will be about $34 million, 25% of the total investment for the project, in return for about 10% of the return. The proposed project is a 300-foot luxury hotel at 8th and K and a parking lot on 8th & L where the Bel-Vue stands. The proje

A wrecking ball won't finish off a historic Midtown building damaged in a recent accident. Instead, the accident is helping to bring new life to the long-vacant, 80-year-old building at 16th and U streets. The building's current owners, identified as Stratton Investments of Reno, want to rebuild the front section that caved in when a large Icee truck rammed into the unreinforced masonry structure last month. Then they'll proceed with stalled efforts to sell the building, said Dave Herrera, a commercial real estate broker with Colliers International - Sacramento. "It's a beautiful brick building," he said. "They're going to try to bring it back." The owners are working closely on the ne

One week after a truck wrecked the front of a historic midtown building, some residents and business owners are saying they'd like a traffic signal for what they say is a dangerous intersection. Several people sitting at Harry's Cafe, a popular sidewalk cafe next door to the damaged building, narrowly escaped serious injury when an Icee truck and an SUV collided at 16th and U Streets and ran up onto the sidewalk. Locals say last Tuesday's accident was one of many that have threatened people visiting businesses or on foot on the busy one-way street. "It's dangerous. I really want to see the city put a stoplight right there," said the cafe's owner, Harry Luong, 53. However, police acciden

The City of Sacramento Development Services Department announces: Under a City ordinance passed last fall, Sacramento property owners looking to improve a historic structure may be eligible for financial assistance. The Historic Places Grant Program will award up to $62,500 in quarterly grant funding, with a total of $250,000 to be awarded over the course of the coming year. The grant program, a collaborative program of the City’s Development Services Department and Sacramento Heritage Inc., aims to help preserve, rehabilitate, restore or reconstruct historic properties throughout Sacramento. To be eligible for funding, the property must be a City designated landmark or “contributing res