Three months after opening, Track 7 Brewing Co. co-owner Geoff Scott said he is happy to see a mixture of new and returning customers, and he hopes a new beer coming out later this month will be received as well as the business has. The as-yet-unnamed beer is a rye pale ale. “It uses about 25-30 percent rye in the grain build,” Scott said. “It’s a little on the heavier side. Most ryes are 10-15 percent, so it has a little more rye spice.” The beer will go on sale April 20, and seven barrels – 215 gallons – are finishing the brewing process. “I don’t think it’ll have quite the bitterness (our Daylight Amber) has, so it’ll be a nice mellow pale ale with some rye spice to it,” Scott said.

The Feb. 15 groundbreaking of the 72-acre lot that neighbors Sacramento City College brought the campus one step closer to becoming a bridge between the Land Park and Curtis Park neighborhoods. The vacant lot east of Hughes Stadium and the Union Pacific rail line, which once served as a rail yard, is being transformed into a neighborhood by Petrovich Development Company. The new community will be called Curtis Park Village, a residential and retail development featuring a pedestrian bridge connecting it to the City College light rail station. “On the north side, it’s going to be single family housing, parks, low-income senior housing, apartments and condominiums,” said City College Vice

Home is where the heart is, and for Janice and Rudy Calpo, their hearts are in Curtis Park. After years of change and growth, their Curtis Park bungalow has reached the ripe old age of 100 years, and they have decided to celebrate the history and beauty of their home. “There was a Pennsylvania relative that asked if we were celebrating the 100th birthday of our home,” Calpo said. “I had never thought about it before. When he suggested it, I thought it was a great idea.” Built in 1911, the house has undergone varying transformations throughout the decades. Because of its many restorations, it was featured in the Curtis Park Home Tour in 2006, in which historic homes are open to the public

Local watering hole Pangaea Two Brews Cafe recently expanded its operations to include a bottle shop with about 200 beer selections. The bottle shop opened earlier this month, and owner Rob Archie said he has plans to add a delivery service in the Curtis Park neighborhood in September. “We had our grand opening Aug. 6, and it was full in here all day,” Archie said. “The response has been really positive.” Pangaea, located at 2743 Franklin Blvd., is marked by its selection of Belgian beers on tap, and Archie told The Sacramento Press in a previous article that he has long wanted to bring a bottle shop to offer those beers at to-go prices. Beers are stored in a refrigerator spanning much

At 6:30pm on the last Sunday of July and August, neighbors will gather in Curtis Park to enjoy music, picnicking and fun with friends and family.  With a blanket and a picnic basket, everyone can enjoy great music in a wonderful outdoor venue, set in the trees of historic William Curtis Park.  On July 31, feature band The Thing Itself takes the stage.  The Thing itself blends rock, blues, jazz, funk and gospel into a sound that is fresh and familiar.  Their original music weaves upbeat grooves, catchy hooks and often unexpected lyrics.  Members of The Thing Itself have been featured in some of the areas top bands over the last 20 years, including Bob's Child, Izabella, The Four Guys From

Those who prefer to buy specialty brews will soon have a new place to go to stock their beer cellars as Curtis Park’s Pangaea Two Brews Cafe celebrates its third anniversary by opening a bottle shop. Adjacent to Pangaea, at 2743 Franklin Blvd., it will complement the already-successful cafe with its largely Belgian and Belgian-style beer selection. Prices will be competitive with other local distributors, owner Rob Archie said. The bottle shop will open in about a week. Also new to the space will be specialty cheeses, high-end Belgian chocolates, wine and a larger selection of charcuterie. “We’re probably going to start off with about 250 bottles and work our way up,” said the 36-year-o

Residents will get a chance to see the design of a planned pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the railroad between Curtis Park and Land Park Wednesday night. The city’s project team will give a construction update at the Sierra 2 Center for the Arts and Community, 2791 24th St., at 6 p.m. 6:30 p.m . Wednesday The bridge is designed to give pedestrians and cyclists safe access over the railroad tracks from the light rail stop at Sacramento City College near the intersection of 24th Street and Sutterville Road. “Currently, pedestrians and bicyclists must use Sutterville Road to travel between Curtis Park and the light rail station,” according to a Department of Transportation newsletter.

A Curtis Park microbrewery that plays up Sacramento's railroad history is one step closer to opening after winning approval from the city Planning Commission. Two craft beer fans expect to open Track 7 Brewing Company, a microbrewery and tasting room, in mid-September if other necessary permits and licensing are granted. Southern California transit analyst Ryan Graham and Sacramento mortgage underwriter Geoff Scott said they hope to start working on an adaptive reuse of a 380-square-foot space 2,100-square-foot space inside a warehouse at 3747 W. Pacific Ave., near Sutterville Road and 24th Street, within a month. The Sacramento Planning Commission voted 8-1 Thursday night to grant a sp

The Sierra 2 Center for the Arts & Community invites everyone to a lively art competition that benefits the local and the global. On Friday, March 11th from 5:30 to 8:30pm the Sierra 2 Center presents the Best Friend Friday Art Contest, a competition that has solicited pieces of art from all over the Sacramento region. Artists were asked to submit a piece of art that reflected their unique interpretation of any aspect of life in Curtis Park or of the children of Belize. Curtis Park is a charming neighborhood of approximately 2500 households just south of downtown Sacramento, known for its lush canopy of trees, eclectic architecture, and sense of community. More than half of the 360,000 p

Three organizations have come together to create a new way to blend Sacramento’s thirst for innovative visual art with its desire to address the needs of the local and global community. On March 11th and March 26th, the Sierra 2 Center for the Arts and Community will join with Rise Up Belize! Advancement Through Education and the 10x10 Art Benefit Tour for three magical events. On Friday, March 11th from 5:30 - 8:30pm an Art Contest will be held during Best Friend Friday, Sierra 2 Center’s ongoing intermingling of social networking and community activism. All Sacramento area artists have been invited to submit work around two themes: “Life in Curtis Park” and “Children of Belize,” for whi

A long-debated topic in the Curtis Park neighborhood came potentially one step closer to its resolution Friday morning during a hearing at the Historic City Hall. Representatives from the community, concerned about the future of some 57 “Heritage Tress” in the Curtis Park Village development, presented a collaborated compromise designed to mitigate the impacts of any tree removal with the project firm, Petrovich Development Company. “Heritage trees” are the large oak trees that pepper within the boundaries of the Curtis Park Village. The land they now occupy is contaminated with various toxins due to the pervious industrial railroad shops that formerly stood on the site. Sierra Curtis Ne

There has been an enthusiastic debate simmering in the Curtis Park neighborhood for quite some time now. The topic of discussion: heritage trees in development zones and their proposed removal. But through the passionate exchanges from local residents and the developer of the project, cooler heads express the need for civility. I learned this while speaking candidly with two citizens working hard behind the scenes on this hot-button topic over the weekend. Patrick Soluri, Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association president, gave me the CliffsNotes version of information from years of hearings, public meetings, press releases and e-mails from neighborhood advocates. In a nutshell: The Petrov

The Friday, January 21st hearing at which development firm Petrovich Development planned to request a permit from the City of Sacramento to remove Heritage Trees from his Curtis Park Village site has been cancelled until a future date. The postponement is the  result of a meeting arranged between Sacramento Councilmember Jay Schenirer and members of the Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association (SCNA) on the evening of January 19th. Representatives of SCNA’s Neighborhood Concerns Committee who attended the meeting are encouraged about what transpired, and feel that what was agreed upon and what is still being discussed amounts to good news for trees at the future site of the development proj

Developer Paul Petrovich has requested a permit from the City of Sacramento to remove 57 Heritage Trees on the Union Pacific Railyard site where he plans to build Curtis Park Village, a development project. A hearing has been set for this Friday, January 21st, at old City Hall, where the permit will be reviewed and the issue decided. Neighbors from Curtis Park will meet immediately beforehand to discuss the issue and speak to the media. While Petrovich Development says the trees must be removed because the soil around the trees is toxic, there does not appear to be adequate documentation to support this claim. Just over one month ago the State Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC)

New Sacramento City Councilman Jay Schenirer said he wants to improve Sacramento’s neighborhoods. He’s approaching neighborhood groups because he believes local activism is essential for change. Schenirer, who represents 19 neighborhoods including Oak Park, Curtis Park and Brentwood, hosted a driving tour for The Sacramento Press on a rainy Friday. Neighborhood involvement was a topic that came up frequently as he talked about the troubles, successes and quirks of District 5. “People have been here a long time,” he said, as he drove around the Hollywood Park neighborhood. “They take a lot of pride. They have a good neighborhood association.” As Schenirer drove through South Oak Park, i

As the 2010 holiday season goes into full swing, the Sierra 2 Center offers the Curtis Park and Sacramento community at large a truly unique way to combine its indulgence in merriment with its interest in sharing with those in need. On Friday, December 3rd, the Sierra 2 Center for the Arts & Community presents Best Friend Friday, an ongoing social gathering at which attendees get to meet new people, enjoy terrific food and drinks, and learn something they didn’t know about their own community. This Friday attendees will get the chance to meet Harvest Sacramento, an amalgamation of area residents, non-profits, community groups and businesses who work together to gather uneaten fruit and ve

Incoming Sacramento City Councilmen Jay Schenirer and Darrell Fong both said in interviews on Monday that they want to address concerns in the specific neighborhoods they will represent. They also said they are mindful of the city’s expected budget shortfall. Fong and Schenirer will be officially sworn into their new posts on Tuesday night. Schenirer pointed out that he will represent 19 neighborhoods as the councilman for District 5, including Oak Park, West Tahoe Park and Curtis Park. “I think the neighborhoods in my district have a significant amount of need,” Schenirer said. To respond to the neighborhoods’ needs, he said he wants to spend the next three to six months working with

Voter turn out has been steady all day according to Diane Buffington who was supervising the Brett Hart Elementary School polling location.  Buffington has been working poling places longer than she could remember.  "It's got to be at least double digits." When asked about how turn out has been she said that it was average.  Buffington reminded me that "average"  in Curtis Park is probably much higher numbers than a lot of other neighborhoods  Curtis Park is a very politically active neighborhood.  Voting was being observed by first time GOP poll watcher Pete Kazak.  He said that he had not seen any Democrat poll watcher this location today.   Curtis Park resident Elizabeth Berg votes

Curtis Park residents know how to throw a party. The 20th Annual Wine Tasting and Silent Auction event converted the Sierra 2 Center into a interactive showcase of fine wine, beer and gourmet eats. With 450 tickets sold before the event even began, only 100 were still available for purchase at the door. Curtis Park Neighborhood Association President Rosanna Herber said she expected the event to sell out. More than 35 wineries offered tastings of their red and white wines and many provided food pairings to complement their generous samples. People wandered slowly down the line of sampling tables with plates and wine glasses in hand. With no particular agenda or method, they followed thei

Everyone loves a “win-win” situation. One of those “nobody loses” scenarios is set to play out Saturday when the Sierra Curtis Neighborhood Association invites the public to taste some grape while supporting a trio of longtime SCNA beneficiaries at the 20th annual Curtis Park Wine Tasting and Silent Auction.  “Of the dozen or so different events we hold each year, it’s our biggest fundraiser,” said SCNA board member Melanie Smith, who is hoping that the annual community festival will bring in big bucks that will help keep the C.K. McClatchy High School cross-country and track and field teams in uniforms and equipment, send Bret Harte Elementary School sixth graders to the Sly Park Environ